


Music Under the Spotlight (Lumity Band Au)

by Simply_Lumity



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Amity Blight - Freeform, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I have no idea if this would be considered slow burn or not, I'm sorry lmao I'm bad with tags, Lumity, Luz Noceda - Freeform, Luz is still bi and oblivious what's new there, So maybe a slowburn?, There's eventually angst because this just can't be a fluffy story lmao, This is the result of finding cool art on Twitter at three in the morning, This was going to be a joke but now I have a whole idea planned, toh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:34:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 257,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24940906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simply_Lumity/pseuds/Simply_Lumity
Summary: After leaving the Boiling Isles for two years, Luz is back and here to stay, this time, not with just her love for magic. After catching up with almost everyone, her friends invite her to a concert of one of the most popular bands in the Boiling Isles.So, what are the odds that her crush is the lead singer of the band?And what are the greater odds that she gets the chance to be the band's drummer?(Band Au started by datidoltrash on Twitter)(Finally decided to update and give it a legit title lmao)
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 1227
Kudos: 4733
Collections: The Owl House, We_Love_Lumity





	1. Welcome back

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! These notes can be important so please read! Since this is a band au, there's going to be songs, which I'll list here in the notes so that you can look them up and listen to them while you read!

Luz POV:

  
Two years.

  
Two long years since I had last been to the Boiling Isles. Two years where I've barely had any contact with the friends I made, nor my mentor. Two years since I've started learning and practicing magic. Two long years since I've seen my home away from home.

  
And now, it was finally time for me to go back. I stood in the doorway of my room, a duffel bag full of anything I'd need draped over my shoulder and a key tightly gripped in my hand.  
I looked down at the key Eda had given me a couple of years ago. The bright yellow eye at the top of the key still shined as brightly as it did when I first got it. My thumb ran over top of it, watching the light collecting in its eye.

  
Taking a deep breath, I glanced at my room once again, a soft smile on my face as I observed the fairly empty walls of my old living spot. Then, spinning on my heel, I stuffed the key into my pocket and made my way downstairs, ready to head back to the Boiling Isles.

  
This time, to stay.

  
My footsteps loudly echoed off the walls as I quickly made my way downstairs, nearly falling down in the process. Jumping off the last three steps, I grabbed onto the banister and hung off of it for a moment.

  
"Mom? I'm gonna go!" I called out, moving over to the mirror that hung on the wall. Looking at my reflection, I quickly adjusted my beanie and flicked the collar of my jacket up before shooting myself finger guns. "Still looking sharp."

  
Suddenly, from behind me, I could see my mom appear in the mirror. The sight of her reflection startled me, making me jump. My bag fell to the ground with a loud thud, making her wince. She placed her hands on my shoulders to steady me, making sure I didn't fall.

  
"Oh geez! It's just you." I started to laugh, earning a slightly confused look from my mom. "Thought you were a monster there for a second." I managed to get out between chuckles.  
"Hopefully there wasn't anything fragile in your bag." She said, cracking a small smile. I glanced down at my bag, then shrugged.

  
"Eh, if there was, I'm sure it can be fixed with a bit of magic." I winked, earning me a soft sigh. She eyed me up and down for a moment, her hands moving to my collar to adjust it.

  
Her eyes met then mine before she quickly pulled me into a hug. "I'm going to miss you mija." She said softly, hugging me a little tighter. I hesitated for a moment, then wrapped my arms around her.

  
"Woah! Hey, you're acting like you'll never see me again." I muttered as she pulled away from me. I could see her eyes were glistening slightly.

  
"Sometimes it feels like I won't." She said softly. "I mean, I'm letting you go to live in another dimension."

  
"Honestly, I'm still surprised you're letting me do that." I remarked, earning me a small snort and another smile.

  
"I'm surprised too." She replied, moving her glasses to wipe her eyes. I bent down to pick up my bag, throwing it over my shoulder. My mom's eyes went from me to my beanie. "Do you really need that?" She asked, reaching to take it off my head.

  
I quickly moved away, lightly swatting her hand. "Hey! It's part of my style!" I said, adjusting it slightly on my head.

  
"Is wearing a plaid shirt like a jacket also your style?" I nodded my head, to which she gave me a soft sigh. "If you say so."

  
She gave me a slightly lopsided smile, her hands moving up so that she could run her fingers through some of my hair that peeked out from under my beanie. "Promise me you won't cause too much trouble?" Her voice wavered slightly, but I could tell she was trying to cover it up.

  
"I promise." I said softly, feeling myself tear up. I quickly pulled her into another hug, this time catching her by surprise. We stayed like this for a bit, the two of us just savoring the moment. Finally, after some time, my mom pulled away.

  
"Don't cause your teacher too much trouble." She stated, making me laugh. "I'm serious Luz. Don't keep her up with your drumming, or get in a bunch of trouble that she'd have to sort out."

  
"I probably won't." I said, watching as my mom gave me a look. "Okay look, I can promise I won't keep her up with my drumming." I held my hands out defensively, then my eyes widened. "Wait! That reminds me!"

  
I dashed past my mom back up to my room, skidding to halt in my doorway. Wracking my brain, I tried to remember where I stashed them. Then, a light bulb went off.

  
Moving to my dresser, I pulled open the drawers and started to sift through them, struggling to find what I was looking for. Then, after opening my third drawer, I finally found them.

  
Pulling my drumsticks out of the drawer, I tightly held them in my hands and raised them above my head, acting like it was a special item in some video game.

  
"Can't believe I almost forgot you!" I said, quickly stuffing the sticks into my bag before bounding back downstairs. My mom looked at me from the bottom of the stairs, raising an eyebrow.

  
"Now do you have everything?" She asked me, an amused tone in her voice.

  
"Yep!" I replied, lightly patting my bag. Then, reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the key and carefully held it in my hand. Both of our gazes slowly dropped to the key, then back up to each other.  
I could see her eyes held this soft look, a small smile etched on her face. "Message me when you get the chance, alright?"

  
"Will do." I said, gripping the key tightly in my hand as she patted my shoulder. Then, turning towards the front door, I made my way to leave. Resting my hand on the doorknob, I paused, then turned back to my mom. "Hey, don't forget, I'm dropping by at least once a week if I get the chance." I said enthusiastically, making her smile.

  
"Just message me before you do." She responded, I answered with a nod. I turned the knob and opened the door, then paused once again.

  
Turning back around, I quickly called out. "Wait!" My mom paused, turning back around to face me. "Te quiero." I said, shooting her a quick kiss

  
"Yo también te quiero mija." She said with a loving smile, blowing me a kiss back. And with that, I slowly walked out the front door, closing the door behind me with a soft click.

  
Standing there for a moment, I took a deep breath and stared at the sky. It was a bright blue with the sun hanging high in the sky. "Honestly, I think I'm going to miss this." I said softly to myself, memories of the Boiling Isles' purplish orange sky filling my mind.

  
Walking down the steps, I went over to the bus stop and waited. Lightly tapping my foot, I looked around for Owlbert, remembering thatt Eda said he'd meet me here in her last letter. "Owlbert?" I called out softly, still looking around for the tiny palisman. "Owlbert?" I dragged out, still waiting for him to arrive.

  
Then, there was a sudden sharp hoot as something softly landed on my left shoulder. Looking to my left, I saw the tiny owl himself. "Hey there buddy!" I said, bringing my hand up to the top of his head and giving it a light scratch.

  
He nuzzled into my touch, closing his eyes as another soft hoot came from his beak. Opening his yellow eyes once again, he stared at me for a moment with a look that was asking me if I was ready to go.

  
"Alright little buddy." He hopped off my shoulder, his wings lightly flapping to keep him in the air. "Ready to get going?" Giving me an eager hoot, he started to fly into the forest, me tailing close behind him.

  
The further we made it into the forest, the more I could feel my excitement building up. This was finally it, I was actually going back to the Boiling Isles, finally getting to go back to learn more magic and see everybody again.

  
I'd get to see Eda again and go on more missions and adventures with her. I'd get to see King and learn more about different types of demons. I'd be able to see Willow and Gus and catch up on everything that I'd miss in the time I was gone. I'd even be able to see Amity again...

  
I slowed down slightly at the thought of the witch, my cheeks starting to heat up. It'd been forever since I had heard from Amity, in fact, I think she only sent me one letter while I was gone. But, despite that, the witch never seemed to leave my mind.

  
Maybe it was because of how much I looked up to her, with her being the top student at Hexside and all. Or, maybe it was because of the things we had in common, like both of us liking Azura. Or, it could have been the blossoming crush I had developed on the youngest Blight during the time we spent together.

  
Or it was a mix of all those things.

  
Yeah, it was probably a mix off all those things.

  
Owlbert flew over towards me, flying in front of my face to get my attention. He gave me a hoot of concern, quickly pulling me out of my thoughts. "Oh! Sorry Owlbert, let's keep going."

  
We both continued into the forest before we made it to the abandoned house I had followed him into the first time. I paused for a minute in front of the house, observing it while Owlbert rested on my shoulder.

  
There were vines hanging off the worn down gutters of the house, draping over the house like a cloak. Part of the roof was caved in, vines also spilling into the hole. The windows were shattered, and surprisingly, the door was still on the hinges.

  
I looked at Owlbert, then at the key in my hand before I moved forward towards the rotting door. "Eda said this key would act like a skeleton key, right?" I asked Owlbert, earning me a short little hoot which I assumed was supposed to be a yes.

  
While I stood in front of the door, the smell of wet wood filled my nostrils. I looked down at the keyhole to the door, noting that it was probably the best looking part of the house. My hand very slowly started to move towards the keyhole with the key, then I stuck the key in and turned.

  
The door started to shake, then the doorknob quickly shifted to the middle of the door, it's color changing into a shiny gold color. A big, bright yellow eye opened in the middle of the door, it's slim pupil staring straight ahead. The door straightened out, slowly shifting into different shades of brown, eccentric swirls sprouting out on the door.

  
Once the door finished changing, it cracked open. A blinding white light came from behind the door, making me have shield my eyes for a moment. "Wow." I said softly, staring at the door in awe. Owlbert flew off my shoulder and floated in the air for a moment as he turned to me, then he flew through the door.

  
I quickly followed him, my body being swallowed in the light for a moment. When I emerged on the other side my vision was covered in lots of black dots, blurring the landscape in front of me. Blinking a few times, I tried to clear up my sight a little faster, but it didn't seem to be working.

  
Behind me, I could hear the door fold up with a few loud thunks, disappearing from sight. Rubbing my eyes, my vision finally became clear enough to see where I was. And from the looks of it, I was probably on the outskirts of Bonesborough.

  
Something hit me in the back of the head, making me wince and bring a hand up to where I was hit. Owlbert flew to the ground before coming back up, the key in his small beak. Rubbing the spot where the key hit me, I took the key from him and shoved it into my pocket.

  
Staring out at the bustling town, I couldn't help but smile. It was just like I had remembered it, lively with all different kinds of people and a few different creatures flying through the air above. Overhead, I could hear the screech of a griffon, spiders tumbling down from its beak and flying through the light breeze.

  
"Just like I remember it." I said softly, my eyes lightly stinging with tears as I smiled. Wiping my eyes, I turned to the small palisman that hovered by me. "Alright Owlbert, you mind leading me to Eda? I want to surprise her."

  
Owlbert gave me a little hoot, then started flying towards Bonesborough. I ran after him, my feet pounding on the orange grass with each step. "Hey wait up!" I called out to the small owl with a laugh, slowing down from a run to a walk.

  
He paused, then flew over to me. A few hoots came from his tiny beak. "Sorry little buddy, my stamina sucks." I said to him with a small chuckle. "And besides, I don't want to just go thundering into Bonesborough to see Eda, it'd ruin the surprise."

  
Another hoot came from the small creature. "Is Eda at her stand?" I asked him, which earned me a happy hoot that meant yes. "Well then, why don't you lead me to the back of the stand so I can surprise her by popping out, huh? Whatcha think about that?" He mulled it over for a minute, then hooted again before slowly flying in front of me.

  
We both slowly made our way through the town, passing by all sorts of people that frequented it and a few of the markets that sold Boiling Isle goods. I couldn't help but stare at a few of the items in the stands, wondering what each thing was used for.

  
There was one purple stand that had large, pig looking legs hanging off of hooks. A bunch of jars containing some sorts of items littered its shelves with a sign that read "Soomite Haunches." and a small sign to the side reading "25% off."

  
Another stand we passed was selling some kind of fur coats. Its sign read "Slitherbeast pelts" in dark red writing. I immediately recognized the name of the creature, remembering the time we were attacked by one at the Witch arena.

  
Owlbert took a sudden sharp left, cutting through two stands, one of them selling magical rocks and the other selling some sort of food. I quickly followed after him, ducking through the two stands and struggling to keep up while I watched my step.

  
Our travels continued behind the stands, Owlbert swerving out of the way to avoid different things that stuck out from behind the shops. I stepped over a pile of large teeth, silently questioning what they were from. Then, spinning around, I nearly took my own head off with a giant sword that was emerging from the back of a stand.

  
I yelped in surprise, freezing in my spot as I stared at the sharp blade in front of me. Ducking down, I went under the sword before popping my head back up, reaching up for my neck and giving it a rub. "That could've been a disaster." I said to myself, swallowing before I continued forward.

  
After a bit more walking, I could see a familiar purple tent up ahead. My excitement quickly peaked and I quickly flagged down Owlbert to make him stop. "Owlbert! Go to the front, act like you couldn't find me, I'll surprise her from the inside of the tent." I whispered. The tiny owl gave me a small nod, then disappeared to the front of the stand.

  
Moving over a pile of skulls, I crept to the back of the purple tent, then looking around to make sure no one was looking, I snuck inside. The tent was full of random human items, multiple of said items littering the floor.

  
Carefully, I snuck into the tent, making sure to watch my step. I could easily recognized a bunch of the items that laid on the floor and were in piles next to the walls. Up ahead, I could hear the sound of voices.

  
"So why are you guys getting this stuff anyways?" Eda's voice asked, to people who I assumed were customers. I took another step forward, then nearly tripped over something lying on the floor.

  
That something's head shot up, glowing eyes turning to me. "Hey!" A familiar voice squeaked, which I instantly recognized.

  
"King?" I asked, making him tilt his head slightly.

  
"Luz?" He asked back, his voice taking on a higher pitch. I could hear him start to squeal in happiness, then he ran and jumped up into my arms, pulling me into a hug. "My boo-boo buddy is back!" He exclaimed excitedly, making me laugh.

  
Looking at King, I realized he wasn't too different since the last time I saw him. The most noticeable difference was that he was slightly larger and his good horn had a small crack close to its center.  
"I thought you'd never come back!" He said loudly, which I quickly shushed him. Placing a finger against my lips then pointing forward, I silently told King that I planned to surprise Eda.

  
He gave me a nod, telling me he understood. Creeping forward a little more, I listened in on the conversation between Eda and the customers. I wanted to peek out and see who she was talking to, but I knew that could get me caught.

  
"Oh right, that book." I heard Eda say, making me wonder what kind of book she was talking about. "Unfortunately for your sister, I still don't have it. But, you can tell her that if I find it, I'll hold onto it for her."

  
"You'd actually do that?" A female voice asked, one that sounded really familiar, but I couldn't seem to put a name or a face to her voice.

  
Eda snorted, a low chuckle escaping her. "Sure I would, I mean, unless someone offered me a good amount of money for it." She chuckled again. I could see King roll his eyes at Eda's response, which made me laugh.

  
There was a few chuckles from the customers, then another voice spoke. "Honestly, I don't think anyone else is going to buy that book off of you." A male voice said, and like the female voice, it was familiar but I couldn't remember who it belonged to.

  
Another laugh came from the customers. "Well, we'd better get going now that you have your stupid candy." The first voice said to the second, earning an offended gasp.

  
"Hey! This candy isn't stupid! It's like, the greatest human stuff I've ever tasted." I could hear Eda snort again.

  
"Kid, anytime you come here and buy something edible, you say that." Eda remarked, making the female voice laugh. "Alright you two, as much as I love talking to you, you need to scatter. I've got other business to attend to."

  
The two people said their goodbyes and walked away, their voices quickly blending in with the others that were passing by the stand. I could hear Eda sigh. "Okay Owlbert, they're gone. What did you want to tell me?"

  
Owlbert responded with a few hoots. "What? What do you mean you couldn't find her? I told her to meet by the bus stop like last time." Peeking slightly out of the tent, I could see Eda rubbing her temples. From the looks of it, Eda hadn't changed a bit. I bent down and set King on the ground.

  
"I swear, if I have to go and find this kid myself..." Eda trailed off, leaning on her table. She turned to the small palisman, who now rested on the table. "Are you sure you didn't see her at the spot?"  
Now, I decided to step out, still sticking to the shadows so that she couldn't see me. My eyes landed on my bag, remembering the thing I got for Eda. I slowly reached into my bag, my hands sifting through my things while I struggled to quietly find the item.

  
"Did my last letter even go through? You gave it to her, right?" She questioned the tiny owl, I felt my fingers graze over the item I was looking for. I clasped it in my hand, then slowly pulled it out of my bag.

  
Reaching back into my bag again, I grabbed a hold of a flashlight that I packed along and pulled it out. Then, with the flashlight in one hand and the item in the other, I pointed the flashlight at the object and turned it on.

  
That caught Eda's attention pretty quick. "Shiny." She said, her eyes widening as she looked for the source of the light. She turned to me, then froze in place, the shiny thing no longer having her attention.

  
"Hey there Eda." I said with a smile. A smile slowly crept up on her lips, which turned into laughter. Running up to her, I pulled her into a tight hug.  
"I knew something was going on here!" She laughed, pulling me into a headlock and ruffling my hair. "How long have you been here?" Eda asked with a snort as she pulled my beanie over my eyes, a form of payback for hiding.

  
Stepping back, I adjusted my beanie so that I could see. "Only a few minutes." I responded, making Eda laugh again.

  
"From where you appeared from, I assume you've already said hi to King then?" King popped his head out of the tent at the sound of his name, a little weh sound coming from his mouth. I nodded, watching King come from behind the tent.

  
Owlbert flew into the air by Eda, then landed on his staff and turned back into wood. "It took you long enough to get here!" King said, lightly punching my leg.

  
Picking up the small demon again, I lightly booped his nose. "I know. Believe me I would've come sooner if I could, but it took awhile to convince my mom to let me stay here." King shot me a confused look while Eda's eyes widened.

  
"Stay?" King questioned, looking between me and Eda.

  
"How could I forget?" Eda facepalmed, her hand gripping tightly on her staff. "It completely left my mind that you were gonna be living in the Boiling Isles." She muttered, now making King's eyes widen.

  
"Wait you're staying in the Boiling Isles?" He squeaked out, to which I nodded. Then, he started to rub his hands together, an adorable little laugh coming from his muzzle. "I can teach you even more about demons now!" His eyes sparkled with excitement.

  
I set King down on the stand's table, once again booping his nose. "Yep!" I said to him, then turned back to Eda, who was organizing something at her stand. "Even though I just got here, I should probably go say hi to my friends."

  
Eda turned back around to face me, leaning her staff on the table. She folded her arms, but only for a moment before she just shook her head and smiled. "Okay then kiddo." Reaching out, she ruffled my hair once again. "Make sure you come back to the house some time tonight though, no sleepovers you hear me?"

  
She grabbed my bag off my shoulder and set it down on the floor next to her. "I'll take this back to the house for ya." King instantly pounced on my bag, but Eda shoved him off with her foot.

  
"Actually wait." I paused, bending down into my bag to grab a few things. "I got you guys something actually!" King started to bounce up and down while Eda just rolled her eyes with a smile. After a bit of searching, I found what I was looking for.

  
Turning to King, I could see his eyes were still sparkling in excitement. "King, since you already got your crown, I got you this. Close your eyes." He obeyed, and I tied the item around his neck loosely. He opened his eyes again and looked at what I gave him, a small squeal coming from him. "After all, what's a mighty ruler without his cape?"

  
King jumped up onto the stand's table, pointing one finger into the air. "Yes! I am a mighty ruler! You all with bow to me!" He proclaimed, pointing at some of the people that passed by, his new purple cape swaying with his actions.

  
"And as for you Eda." I turned towards my mentor, who had this amused look. "I got you this thing, it's called a disco ball." I handed her the mini disco ball from earlier, she carefully held it in her hands, scanning over the new item. Then, I grabbed my flashlight from earlier. "It sparkles in the light." I stated, turning the flashlight on and pointing it at the sphere.

  
Eda's eyes sparkled again, following the tiny lights that were being made by the ball. Turning the flashlight back off, I handed that to Eda as well. "Welp, now I should get going. I'll see you guys later tonight!"

  
I waved the two goodbye, then left the tent and started to make my way through the rest of the market. Staring at the things being sold, I couldn't help but be captivated by everything. Shaking my head to focus, I tried to think of where I would find Willow and Gus.

  
There was a possibility they could be in the market, but I doubted it. Then, I thought that they could still be in classes at Hexside, which didn't seem as far fetched.

  
So, I decided to first check to see if they were at Hexside, but instead of taking the direct route to the school, I decided to take the route where I first met Willow. It took a little bit to get there, by the time I made it the sun was hanging at the top of the sky. Because of this, it was a lot warmer, so I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist.

  
Making my way through the trail, I stared at all the trees that surrounded me. It was calming. Something that was pretty rare in the Boiling Isles, with all of it's creatures and spells. Slowly walking through the trail, I froze when I heard the sound of rustling in the leaves.

  
Assuming it was some sort of dangerous creature, I ducked into one of the dark bushes by the trees and peered out, waiting to see what was going to emerge. There was more rustling, then a voice.  
"Are you sure about this?" A soft voice asked, which I almost instantly recognized as Willow's.

  
"Of course I am Willow! Nothing dangerous is around here!" Another voice chimed in, which I assume was Gus', though it did sound a bit deeper than before. Still looking out the bushes, I watched the two of them emerge from a clearing in the trees, Gus dragging Willow by her wrist into a more open area.

  
The two of them didn't see too much different either. Willow seemed slightly taller, her hair just barely below her shoulders. I could also tell that she was buffer than before. And Gus really only changed in height. Now, he was about the same height as Willow.

  
Gus let go of her arm and stood towards the middle of the trail, shaking his hands a few times as he bounced up and down. "Okay, watch." He said to Willow, then he put his arms out. I watched as he closed his eyes and bit his lip, clearly concentrating.

  
Then, he opened his eyes again and had a smug look on his face. "Okay, now try to walk towards me." Willow did what he asked before running into thin air. She took a step back, then placed her hand out, her hand coming in contact with something invisible.

  
"No way!" She exclaimed, now placing both hands on the invisible object. "You finally can do the wall spell?" Gus proudly nodded, quickly drawing a small, blue circle with his finger.

  
"Not only that!" He said, finishing the circle. Suddenly, a blue outline of Gus appeared, standing proudly next to him with his arms folded across his chest. "I managed to finally figure out how to do this spell!" Gus gestured towards his blue outline copy.

  
Willow raised an eyebrow at the copy. "Willow watch, now you see him." He pointed to the copy before snapping his fingers, the copy disappearing from sight. "Now you don't!" I couldn't help but stare in amusement at Gus' magical ability.

  
"You just banished him." Willow said, a smirk on her face. Gus shook his head in reply.

  
"Nope, it's a ghost spell, they can go invisible at a simple command." To prove his point, he gestured towards Willow, who soon jumped after he did. Gus chuckled a little, then motioned to Willow again.

  
She looked around, trying to find the illusion before she flinched again. "Gus!" She hissed, clearly not liking the teasing coming form the illusion. Gus snapped his fingers again, and the illusion reappeared by Willow's shoulder.

  
The illusion gave Willow a cheeky little wave before it faded away, this time actually disappearing. "I swear, you better not act the Blight twins did in school." Willow stated, earning a gasp from Gus.

  
"You think I'd really spend my last few years at Hexside like they did? Wow Willow, just wow. Have you seen me? Or did someone wipe your memory?" The two of them busted out laughing at his question.

  
"Okay, okay, okay." Gus struggled to get out, still laughing. "That's all the new spells I've got." He stated as he turned to Willow. "You got anything new?" He asked her, to which she shook her head.

  
"Nothing new on me anyways. If I would've known you were showing off new spells I would've brought my wiglac plant." I had no idea what kind of plant Willow was talking about, but it was fun to imagine what it'd look like.

  
"Never heard of that plant before." Gus said, speaking exactly what I was thinking. They fell silent for a moment, Gus moving over towards Willow and taking a seat on the path. Willow copying his actions.

  
"Wanna play a game?" Willow asked Gus, which was answered with a nod.

  
Gus stretched his arms out, twisting his arms to pop his joints. "What kinda game?" He questioned as he stretched his arms over his head, casting out a quick spell that made tiny, pale blue butterflies flutter through the air, disappearing just as fast as they came.

  
Willow looked around for a moment, then a smile landed on her face. "How bout, I say a word, and you spell cast the first thing that comes to mind. But, we both do it with our eyes closed, so it's like a surprise."

  
I could see Gus laugh, saying something I couldn't understand to Willow before sitting up a little straighter. Realizing this would be a great chance to surprise them, I waited for the perfect moment.

  
They both closed their eyes, Gus preparing a spell in front of him. "Alright uh..." Willow hesitated for a moment. "Book." Gus paused, then made a quick spell circle.

  
In front of them, an illusion of Amity appeared. Though I couldn't see the front of the illusion, I could only assume it was what Amity looked like now. She wore a purple sweater and dark jeans with dark grey combat boots. They opened their eyes, the two of them chuckling.

  
"You really think she's still into books?" Willow asked, turning to Gus.

  
Gus replied with a laugh. "Oh definitely. Amity may have changed, but she hasn't changed that much." I wondered what he meant by Amity changed, but I didn't get much time to think about it.

  
The illusion of Amity faded away and the two closed their eyes again. "Bright." Willow said, and Gus started his spell. I knew this would be the perfect time to surprise them.  
Another illusion summoned, one of someone I could vaguely remember seeing around Hexside. She had silver hair and an undercut, standing tall in front of the two. I quickly got out of the bush and pushed the illusion to the side.

  
I watched the illusion look at me in surprise before dusting away. "Okay, so that was a little creepy." I thought to myself, but quickly put on a small smile and clasped my hands behind my back when I saw they were opening their eyes.

  
The look on Gus's face changed, clearly surprised. "That... wasn't the first thing that I thought of." He muttered to Willow, who shrugged her shoulders. I enthusiastically waved at the two of them, then shot them finger guns which made them both smile.

  
"I really do miss her. Y'know, I wonder if Luz still acts like she did since the last time we saw her. Or, do you think she got all serious?" Willow asked out loud, looking away from me to look at Gus.

  
"Oh believe me, I still act like this." I quickly responded, making the two of them instantly freeze up. Willow looked back at me, blinking a few times while she stared. Then, very slowly, she leaned over to Gus.

  
"I thought illusions weren't supposed to speak?" She hissed, making Gus' eyes dart between me and her.

  
They both stood up, standing a little defensively. "Certain ones can, but the one I just casted shouldn't." He responded, still staring at me.

  
"So banish it and recast it." Willow suggested, which Gus nodded his head. He made some sort of movement with his hand, probably trying to banish me.

  
And with that, I decided to put on a show.

  
I brought my hands up to my neck and acted like I was being choked. "Ack! No! Banishment!" I hissed, dropping down to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see look on both of their faces, ones of confusion.

  
Raising one of my hands up in the air, I pretended to reach up for something, then flopped my arm to the ground. There was a moment of silence, then with a laugh, I got up off the ground and started to dust myself off.

  
"Just kidding guys, I'm still here." I laughed, smiling at the two. I watched as both of their eyes widened in fear.

  
"Gus, that's not an illusion." Willow managed to squeak out. "Is it a skinwalker?" She shakily asked, still not looking away from me.

  
I looked at my arms, pulling at the skin a little. "Nope, not a skinwalker. At least, I don't think I am." Gus' look changed, going from a look of fear to a look of recognition.

  
He took a cautious step forward, then his eyes lit up. "Hold up, Luz? Is that really you?"

  
"In the flesh." I popped the collar of my jacket, winking at the two. There was another moment of silence, before suddenly I was tackled by the two. I stumbled, then fell to the ground, taking Willow and Gus with me.

  
The three of us started to laugh, the two of them hugging me tightly. "It's been forever!" Willow exclaimed, sitting up and pulling the two of us up with her. "How long have you been here?" She asked me, Gus let go of me and moved in front of me.

  
"Oh, I'd say about an hour or so." Shrugging my shoulders, I just gave them a goofy smile.

  
"And you didn't try to get to us sooner? There's so much we have to tell you!" Gus said, lightly shaking my shoulders. He quickly got on his feet and yanked us up, pulling both of our wrists so we would follow him.

  
Willow and Gus started filling me in on anything interesting I missed while I was gone, like how there was a huge beast outbreak that happened right before last year's graduation, or how the twins managed to turn the whole school a neon green. Gus filled me in on how classes have been for him, and how he's managed to take back the Human Appreciation Society from Mattholomule.

  
When they asked what I'd done the past two years, I filled them in on what had happened. There wasn't a lot of interesting things that had happened to me, but I told them about how I got into drumming. At first, it was just something to pass the time, but I eventually became addicted and started to practice it a lot more. Gus asked if that was why I had a change in style, which I just shrugged.

  
They also told me how everyone else was doing, which everyone seemed to be doing alright. "Oh! And there's Boscha! Wait a minute, Willow! Why don't you tell her about you and Boscha?" Gus wiggled his eyebrows, making the short haired witch blush.

  
"Wait, what about you and Boscha?" I questioned, the blush on Willow's face deepening. She turned her head away from us, which only made Gus laugh.

  
She quickly covered her face with her hands, trying to hide from us. "We're..." Her sentence trailed off so that I couldn't hear what she said.

  
"What?" I asked, leaning in a little closer to hear her.

  
"We're... dating." She muttered, instantly trying to hide. I froze in place, making the others stop with me. Grabbing Willow's shoulders, I shook her a few times.

  
"You and Boscha are dating?!" I exclaimed, only flustering the poor witch even further. Gus started to laugh even harder, barely able to stand.

  
Willow looked over at Gus, rolling her eyes but smiling. "Looks like you owe me some Snails Willow!" Gus remarked, making Willow fish in her pocket for a moment before pulling out three Snails and tossing them to Gus.

  
"Honestly, I don't even know why we made that bet, we both knew Luz was going to react like that." Willow muttered, her cheeks still red. Gus simply stuck out his tongue and pocketed his loot.

  
Gus continued to chuckle, but then perked up. "Wait, have we told you about Amity yet?" A vision of the green haired witch filled my mind, making my cheeks heat up lightly. But, before I could give Gus an answer, Willow cut in.

  
"Oh shoot! That reminds me!" She turned to Gus. "Gus, I'm not gonna be able to go tonight."

  
"What! But, we've already got the tickets!" Gus hissed, I stood between the two, completely confused about what they were talking about.

  
"I know! I know, but stuff's come up." Willow rubbed the back of her neck, her eyes darting to the floor before looking back up, her green eyes lighting up with an idea behind her glasses. "Luz! How would you like to go to a concert tonight?"

  
My eyes widened slightly. "You guys have concerts here too? Wait, what kind of concert?" I asked, thinking that it'd be kind of like the Witches Convention.

  
"A band concert." Gus chimed in with a smile, shooting Willow a look. Willow shot him a look back, a smirk appearing on her lips for a moment before it disappeared.

  
"I promise you'll love it." Willow said, a soft smile now appearing on her face. Reaching into her pocket again, she pulled out the ticket for the concert and held it out for me to take.

  
I carefully took the ticket from her hand, scanning it over for a moment. "I'm surprised you guys have band concerts here!" I wanted to question how mentioning Amity brought this up, but I didn't. I read over the name of the band, then raised an eyebrow. "The Abominations? Who are they?" I looked over at my friends, who were giving each other another look.

  
Gus simply responded with "Wait till tonight to see." Shrugging my shoulders, I carefully put the ticket in my pocket.

  
Willow looked up at the sky then back at the two of us. "Well, I better get going. You two have fun at the concert, okay? And Luz, it was great catching up with you." We all said our goodbyes and Gus and I watched Willow walk away.

  
"I should probably get going too." Gus said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll come to the Owl House when it's time for us to go." I gave him a nod, then finger gunned him goodbye. I watched as he went through the clearing in the trees he came from, then disappeared from sight.

  
Spinning on my heel, I went the opposite direction and started to head to the Owl House. A few things were already on my mind, but the two of them that stuck out the most was the concert and Amity.

  
The only reason why Amity was stuck on my mind was because of what the others have said. They said she'd changed, but I had no idea what they meant by that. All the ideas I could come up with were easily debunked in my head. For a split second, I thought that they meant she died, but I quickly brushed that off. It was a stupid thought.

  
Instead of overthinking it, I just cleared my head and decided to focus more on what was going to happen tonight. I dashed towards the Owl House with a smile on my face, excited to fill in Eda on what my plans were for tonight.


	2. Before the show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes for this chapter!

Amity POV: 

I stopped scribbling down in my notebook for a moment, slumping back into my chair with a sigh. I played with the hem of my sweater, looking at the baggy purple fabric for a moment before rubbing it between my fingers. Glancing at my notebook, I scoffed at what I wrote down. 

It was another cruddy letter, a letter to Luz. One I knew I wasn't going to send her. Glancing at the bottom, I noticed how I signed my name. It was cursive, a lot fancier than how I usually signed my name in cursive, and to top it off, I put a heart at the end. 

A loud groan escaped my throat as I sunk deeper into the chair. Reaching up, I tore the page out of my journal and crumpled it up before tossing it in the garbage behind me. "Whatcha doing there Amity?" I heard Boscha ask me, not even looking up from her scroll. 

Footsteps echoed behind me, then the sound of someone crumpling a paper followed right after, making me shoot up in my chair. I quickly spun around and looked to see who was looking at the note, and it was none other than Mattholomule. 

His eyes scanned over the letter for a moment, which I quickly dashed over to pry out of his mitts. He rolled his eyes and shoved me away from him, still reading over the letter. Even though he was shorter than I was, it was a struggle to try and get the letter away from him. 

"It's a letter to the human again." He laughed, roughly shoving me again to buy him some time. 

"Matt so help me I'll- give me that!" I hissed, red in the face. Reaching over him, I yanked the letter from his hands. He yelped in pain and held part of his hand against his mouth, glaring at me because I gave him a papercut. 

"Bitch." He hissed under his breath, bringing his hand back up to his lips. I tore up the letter into tiny bits, then tossed it into the bin. 

"Right back at you." I told him, shoving him forward. Matt just flipped me off as he walked away, disappearing to the sound room. "Why don't you go be useful and check the sound booth?" I called after him in anger. Boscha sighed, now looking away from her scroll

"Y'know," She started, sitting up in her bean bag a little more. "If I were you, I would just send one already. Like, just write how you miss her and send that." Her scroll pinged, and once she glanced at it, she instantly smiled and started typing away. 

I sat back down into my chair and sighed, leaning my head on my hand. "But if I do that, I'll sound way too clingy." I muttered, staring at the table. Running my finger over it, I followed the delicate lines that were etched into the wood. 

Boscha finished typing away her message and stood up, slowly walking over towards me. She placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a light squeeze. "Well, sending one that sounds clingy would be better than not sending one for almost two years, right?" She asked me, which I only groaned and buried my face in my arms. 

"What's the point?" I muttered, running my fingers through my hair. "By now, she's forgotten about me." The thought of Luz not remembering who I was hurt, but I wasn't going to show that. 

Boscha rolled her eyes, typing on her scroll again. "Well, from what Willow says, I don't think that's the case." I sat up, turning towards the pink haired witch. 

"Wait, what?" I asked, blinking a few times. Boscha smirked, not answering me for a moment while she continued to type. "Boscha what do you mean?" I asked her again, making her sigh. 

"I mean, that Willow says you're brought up a lot in Luz's letters." She said, her eyes darting between me and her phone. Shortly after, it dinged again. I couldn't help but chuckle at the look on her face. She had a large smile, her eyes glittering bright while she typed out her message.

"Y'know you can't message your girlfriend during the show, right?" I teased, watching as her ears went down and her cheeks went red. A few chuckles escaped my throat, which in response Boscha just shoved me shoulder. While it wasn't enough to push me out of my chair, it was almost enough to make me lose my balance. 

"Shut up." She hissed at me, which only made me laugh even more. "You would do the same thing with Luz." That statement made me freeze up pretty quick, and that made it Boscha's turn to laugh.   
"Oh Luz~ If only you knew how much I miss you~" Boscha pretended to swoon, laughing even harder when she saw my face going red. But, before she could continue to poke fun at me, the studio door suddenly swung open. 

"We're back!" Edric enthusiastically called out, Emira following not too far behind him. In Edric's arms was a bag full of some sort of squishy substance. The twins walked over to Boscha and I, looking between the two of us before smirking. "Ooo, are we annoying Mittens?" 

Emira peered over my shoulder, Edric set his bag down on the table and peered over my other shoulder. I quickly slammed my notebook shut, making sure they couldn't read anything. Edric ruffled my hair, a stupid smirk on his face. "What are we bugging her about this time?" Emira asked, messing with my ear. 

I shot a glare at Boscha, silently telling her to shut her mouth. But, she didn't listen. "I'm just teasing her about Luz." She said to the twins in a singsong voice, smirking at me. 

"The human? Oh~" Edric wiggled his eyebrows at me, the teasing only making my face even redder. 

"You really should message her Mittens, tell her how much you love her." Emira said with a laugh. I shoved the two of them away, hiding my face in my hands. 

"I don't love her." I stammered out, earning a short laugh from the three of them. 

"Sure you don't." They all said at the same time, which only made them laugh even more. Edric tried to lean on my shoulder to catch his breath, but I shrugged him off, making him fall to the floor with a loud thud. 

Folding my arms over my chest, I turned away from the three, who were now laughing at Edric instead of me. Edric picked himself up off the ground, dusting the invisible dust off of his shirt. "Wait Mittens that reminds me!" 

Edric moved back over to me, this time leaning on the table. "Have you found anyone to replace me yet?" He asked, fluttering his eyes at me. 

"I already told you, we aren't announcing that we're looking for a new drummer till after this show." I muttered, reaching over to ruffle his hair, which I knew he hated. "Why do you not want to be drummer so badly anyways?" I asked him, genuinely curious. 

My brother backed away from me, trying to fix his hair. "It's not that I don't want to be-" He started, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. "but it's just that I'm bored of being the drummer. I wanna work on the special effects with Em." 

"Makes sense." I muttered. Glancing at the table, I stared at the bag of squish that Edric brought back. "What is this stuff?" I asked him, afraid to touch it. Edric looked over at it, then his eyes lit up.

"Oh! Well while we were looking for that book you like from the Owl Lady, I bought these cool human candies off of her!" He stuck his hand in the bag and shoved some of the things in his mouth. "She said humans call them worms? Dunno why though. You want one?" 

He offered me a piece of his candy, which I hesitantly took from him. Looking it over, it was some kind of long, squishy thing. One side of the gummy was slightly larger and rounder than the other for no apparent reason. 

I popped the thing into my mouth and chewed on it a few times, my eyes widening at the flavor. It was surprisingly really good, it had this flavor that I couldn't even begin to describe, it was almost like this odd mix of those fruits I could find in the market during the special seasons. 

Taking another worm from Edric's bag, I popped that one in my mouth as well. I noted that the flavor was slightly different than the last one, which only made it more interesting. I silently wondered if Luz liked these kinds of things. 

"The Owl Lady didn't have it, but she said that if she ever came across it, she'd keep a hold of the book for you." Emira said, lightly placing a hand on my shoulder. 

"Y'know, unless there's some other fanatic looking for one that'd be willing to offer her a decent amount of Snails for it!" Edric said, his cheeks stuffed with candy. I rolled my eyes at him, knowing that it'd only be a matter of time before he started to choke on them. 

Boscha walked over to the table, snagging one of the candies and putting it into her mouth. Her eyes widened as she looked at the bag. "Okay wow, those are actually pretty good." Edric enthusiastically nodded and went to say something, but just like I thought, he started to choke on some of the candy. 

While Emira was patting Edric on the back to make sure he didn't die and Boscha was busy sitting on the table recording the two of them, I turned back to the table. I stared at my closed notebook, then with a soft sigh, I cracked it open to a new page. 

Picking up my pen and ignoring the commotion behind me, I started to scribble down a few notes. 

* Check Owl Lady's stand for book regularly.  
* Don't let Edric stuff his face with human candy anymore.   
* Send letter to Luz???

I underlined the last one a few times, then paused before adding in one last note. 

* Ask her if she likes candy worm things.

Then with that, I closed my notebook and set my pen down, rubbing my eyes. I could hear Edric gasping for air behind me, which meant he managed to successfully clear his airways of the squishy candy.

"Now you dumbass, don't shovel like forty of those things into your face." Emira said, and when I turned around I watched her smack him in the back of the head. 

Edric was bent over, one hand on his knee and the other holding a slimy pile of mush in his hands. He stared at the pile for a moment, then, not surprisingly, he put it back in his mouth. "Oh my god Edric." Boscha gagged, turning away from my brother. 

Emira smacked him again and I just rolled my eyes. "What? I'm not wasting this stuff!" He said, sticking more of the mush into his mouth. 

"I swear to the gods Edric, some days I wonder how you're still alive." I muttered, earning me an offended gasp from him. But, before he could say anything, Matt poked his head out of the sound room, an annoyed look on his face. 

"The concert is in a few hours y'know. You guys need to get ready." He hissed at us, making me roll my eyes. Ed and Em simply laughed, the two of them walking over to Matt. Edric pulled him into a headlock, ruffling his hair slightly. 

"Oh c'mon Matty, we've got a bit of time." Edric said, Matt kicked him in the shin to get out of his grip. My brother nearly toppled over, a low, drawn out hiss of pain escaping his lips. Matt rolled his eyes and fixed his hair. 

"I doubt that, you three-" He motioned towards my siblings and Boscha. "still need to get dressed for the show." Ed and Em looked down at their clothes, then back at each other. 

"Okay fine, you have a point there." Emira placed a hand on her hip while Edric just shrugged. Matt smirked, happy that he was right for once, but his smirk didn't last. The twins shot each other a smug look, then Emira drew a quick spell circle with her finger. 

Once the spell was complete, Matt was flipped upside down. He fell to the ground with a thud, then groaned while the twins just laughed. "We'll be right back, we're gonna go change!" Edric said, the two quickly getting away before Matt could get back on his feet. 

A low growl escaped Matt as he got back on his feet, dusting himself off. Boscha hopped off the table with a sigh. "I better go get changed too." I shot her a smile and watched as she walked off.

"Don't forget, wear thicker eyeliner!" I called after the three, a collective response coming from each of them. Matt glared at Boscha as she passed, then started to make his way over to me, peering over my shoulder to stare at my journal. I pushed him away from me, wanting him out of my personal bubble. 

"I still don't get why you think the human cares about you." He said, a malicious look in his eyes. Stepping to the side, I started to make my way to the sound room to grab my guitar. "I mean, she hasn't sent you a letter in what? Two years?" 

"That doesn't mean anything." I snarled, not looking at the witch. "And her name is Luz, start using it." Going into the sound room, I grabbed my guitar off it's shelf before moving back out to the common room. 

My guitar was an older model, one that was given to me by my grandfather. It had the body of a dark blue beetle, large green eyes on either side of it's face, and large navy blue pincers that supported the neck of the guitar. The neck was beige in color, and at the top right, there was a small pale horn that jutted out slightly before following the direction the neck went. 

Flopping down on a bean bag, I started to pluck a few strings on my guitar to make sure they were all in tune. "Hey, no need to be all butthurt about it. After all, it's your fault anyways." Matt muttered, still standing by the sound room doorway. 

I didn't listen to him and just continued to strum my guitar, slightly tuning one of the strings. "Are you even listening to me?" He asked, taking a step closer. Rolling my eyes, I looked away from my guitar to look at Matt. 

"No, no I'm not." I said as bluntly as I could, then returned my focus to tuning my guitar to perfection. Matt growled, but didn't say anything else. Instead, he moved over towards the table, his eyes landing on my journal again. "Touch that and I will rip your arms off." I hissed at him, watching as he froze in place. 

"What? I just want to look over your songs to see if they're any good." He tried to play it off, reaching for my journal again. In an instant, I summoned a quick abomination, silently commanding it to restrain Matt. 

My abomination shambled over to him, wrapping its gooey arms around him to hold him in place. Matt tried to get out of the abomination's grip, but he was firmly held in place by its arms. His ears were down, he was afraid of what I was going to do to him. 

Standing up, I carefully leaned my guitar against the wall before moving over towards Matt. "I told you, don't touch." I said in a grave tone, watching him struggle a little more.

He glared at me, stopping in attempt to escape from the abomination. With a wave of my hand, I banished the abomination and Matt landed back onto the floor. 

"Gods, you need to really stop acting like a bitch." He murmured, turning away from me to disappear into the sound room once again. I swear, he loved doing this type of stuff just push my buttons.

"And you need to stop acting like you're the manager." I told him, feeling my face getting red out of anger. I wanted to say more to him, but I just left it at that. From down the hallway, I could hear footsteps that were quickly getting louder. 

Then, from around the corner, Edric jumped out with his back facing towards me. "Prepare for trouble!" He said, looking over his shoulder with a smug smirk as he struck some dumb pose. 

Emira also appeared from the hallway and moved to Edric's right, mimicking his actions. "And make it double!" She finished off, the two of them bursting out into a fit of laughter. 

Boscha also appeared from around the corner, taking one good look at the two of them before simply shaking her head, a smirk plastered on her face. The twins started to wrap up their laughing fit, Edric making his way over to me. 

"Mittens! You mind helping me?" He held out the small tube of eyeliner for me to take. With a soft roll of my eyes, I motioned for him to sit on the table. He did what I asked with no complaints, patiently waiting for me to start. 

"Why didn't you have Em help you?" I asked him, carefully starting to apply the eyeliner to one eye. 

"She didn't want to." He said, shooting a glare to Emira. Emira just shook her head, then started up a small conversation with Boscha. Once I finished applying the eyeliner to his eye, I switched and started working on the other. 

A couple of minutes later, I took a step back from my brother. "And, done!" He quickly jumped off the table and went to go find a mirror. "Oh, and Boscha, make sure to check your strings some time alright?" The pink haired witch gave me a nod, then disappeared to the sound room to find her guitar. 

Boscha stepped out of the room pretty quickly, nearly running into Edric in the process. While Boscha went to tune her strings, I eyed the twins outfits up and down. Since Emira was special effects and wasn't going to be on the stage, she wore all black to blend with the shadows. She still did the thick eyeliner, which I didn't know why, but I wasn't going to complain about it. 

Edric on the other hand was all dressed up, he was wearing a black leather jacket with the collar popped up, a dark blue shirt on underneath. He had on his boots that were similar to mine and a pair of lighter jeans to contrast against the darkness of his top. His hair was still in its signature style, which I couldn't get him to change even if I tried

Boscha was wearing a leather jacket similar to Edric's, but it was more of a crop top jacket than a full one. She had on a dark maroon shirt and dark grey jeans, and to top it all off, she wore a pair of simple black and white sneakers. 

While Boscha strummed her guitar to tune it, the twins were both goofing off by lightly shoving one another. "Both of you cut it out, you're going to mess up your makeup." I said to the two of them, which only earned me a shove. 

"Aw c'mon Mittens, we're just having a bit of fun." Emira said, grabbing onto my shoulders and pushing me towards Edric, who caught me and spun me around. 

"Yeah Mittens, we're just having fun." Edric shoved me forward towards Emira again, but I tripped over my own feet and stumbled, twisting before falling to the floor. My head smacked the hard floor, a low, drawn out hiss of pain coming through my clenched teeth. 

Even though they were laughing, my siblings managed to help me up. "You guys are the worst." I said to the two, rubbing the back of my head. 

"You know you love us." Emira said in a sweet tone, which I knew was that fake tone she liked to use. 

"Not enough." I muttered, yanking my arms away from the two of them. Both of them placed a hand on their chests in offense, but I just ignored them. 

"When did you get so cruel Mittens?" Edric asked me, but he didn't get a response. Instead, I moved to the table and grabbed the bottle of eyeliner before disappearing around the corner to go to my room. 

I traveled down the hallway, passing by each room before ending up at my own. Looking at the door, I could see there was a new addition to it. Now, just under my name were the words "Mitten's is a dork!" written with magic. 

Even though I knew it wasn't going to come off, I still tried to swipe it away, which only made it move. I sighed, knowing I'll just have to deal with it later. Pushing open my door and stepping inside, I moved over towards my mirror and took a seat. The door behind me closed with a soft click. 

Opening the small tube of makeup, I started to apply it. I made sure to make the lines thick to match Boscha's and Edric's, the only thing that was matching about our appearances. Then, once I finished applying my makeup I made sure to close the tube, the tube making a small click sound when the cap was applied. 

I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment, staring at my outfit. I wore my baggy purple sweater and black jeans which I made sure were cuffed at the bottom. I also had dark grey boots on that touched the top of my cuffed jeans. Fixing my hair, I was careful not to snag my ear cuffs as I put it back up in a half ponytail like always. 

Once I was satisfied, I flopped back down into my chair. Since we still had some time, I just wanted to sit around for a bit alone, just to relax. I looked up at the ceiling, picking out a few random faces that were made with the paint before I got bored. Staring at the mirror once again, I looked down at the table drawer and pulled it open. 

Inside were a few loose items, but the one that caught my attention was a book. I pulled it out of the drawer and flipped it over, realizing it was the first Azura novel. "Why is this here?" I softly asked myself, staring at the cover for a moment. 

There was no way it was my copy, I always left my Azura books at my hideaway in the library. Looking it over, I realized there was some kind of bookmark towards the middle of the book. I cracked it open, and the bookmark fluttered out onto the ground. 

Leaning down, I picked up the bookmark off the ground. Flipping it over, I realized it wasn't a bookmark, rather, it was a photo.   
And the photo was of me and Luz. 

It was a photo from two years ago, back when we first started the book club. We were both in my hideout, Luz on the left while I was on the right. Luz had a goofy smile on her face as she held up a peace sign with her fingers. She had her hoodie over top her head, the two triangle ears at the top were bent down. Her brown eyes were glittering brightly, and I could faintly see the pink that was dusted on her cheeks. 

And not too far behind Luz, was me. I was laughing about something, my ears perked up and my cheeks dusted red. I was wearing my old Hexside uniform, but it was missing the cowl. In my hands was one of the Azura books, based on its looks I assumed it was the fifth one. 

At the bottom of the photo, scrawled out in messy writing were the words "Azura meeting!" Then, in the corner of the picture in smaller handwriting with parenthesis around it read "Managed to make Amity laugh!" With a little star next to it. 

It wasn't hard to tell that it was Luz's handwriting. There wasn't any date or time written on the photo, but from the looks of it, I assumed it was maybe a month after that time we were attacked by the Slitherbeast at the Witches arena.

I sniffled, carefully wiping my eyes so that my makeup wouldn't be ruined. The memories of our book club meetings flooded my mind, all the times we would act out the scenes and give the characters voices, the times where we would just sit back to back and take turns reading through the book as we lost track of time. 

Looking back at the book, I noticed a bunch of writing that littered the pages. There were scenes that were circled, sentences that were underlined, little writings in the margin of the book, all of it in my handwriting. I set down the photo on the table.

Reading some of it over, I realized everything I wrote down was marking off the scenes that Luz liked the most. I wrote down how she liked to deliver the lines and how she acted out the scenes. "Oh wow..." I muttered softly, flipping through a few pages to find more underlined text.

"Was I trying to impress her?" I asked myself, flipping through a few more pages before closing the book. The only reason I could think of why I wrote all this down was to use when we would reread the books act them out again. 

I put the book back into its drawer, making a mental note to take it back to my hideaway. Then, I picked the photo back up and looked it over once again. For a moment, I considered putting it with the book, but I didn't. 

Instead, I stuck the photo on my mirror, not wanting to forget it again. It stuck out of the corner, Luz's smiling face staring at me. A smile tugged at my lips, but it didn't last too long. 

"Mittens!" Edric called as he pounded on my door. I jumped in surprise, smacking my knee on the edge of the table. "Hurry up! We're getting ready to go, otherwise Batty Matty's gonna blow a fuse!" I held my knee, a low string of curses steadily flowing past my lips. 

Somewhere down the hall, I could hear Matt yell at Edric, telling him to stop calling him Batty Matty. Even though I couldn't see him, I knew that Edric rolled his eyes. "I'll be out in a second!" I yelled, getting no response back. 

Standing up, I limped over to the door and pulled it open. Making my way down the hallway, I paused by both of my sibling's doors. With a small smirk, I drew two small spell circles, watching as magic wrating appeared on both of their doors that said "Obnoxious losers." in bold writing. I grinned, then went out to the common room. 

"Took you long enough to come back out." Boscha said, her hand on her hip. I just softly shook my head.

"I wasn't gone for that long." I told her, pulling up my scroll and seeing if I had any notifications. Surprisingly, there was nothing. 

"Wasn't gone for long? Amity, you were gone for like, a half hour. We managed to load all of our equipment in the time you were gone." My eyes widened, as I realized what she said. 

"Okay, so maybe I was gone for a bit." I muttered, putting away my scroll. Was I really thinking about Luz for that long?

Boscha lightly pushed me, a low chuckle coming from her. "What were you doing in there anyways?" She asked, but I just shrugged. 

"Only thinking about the past, that's all." I could see Boscha wanted to asked what I meant, but there was a sudden loud crash that came from our right. Looking over, I saw Ed and Em tangled in one another on the floor, a miscast binding spell tying the two together. 

The twins struggled to untangle themselves, but they weren't successful. "What did you two do?" Boscha and I asked in unison, still watching the twins struggle. Matt then darted out of the sound room, a bucket stuck on his left foot and his clothes were drenched. 

Matt looked furious, his teeth bared. "I swear to gods, prank me again you two! I dare you!" He yelled at the two, who were still wriggling on the ground. 

I walked over to them, then drew a spell circle to undo their binds. The binds disappeared like dust, freeing both of my siblings. They both scrambled to get up and put some distance between them and Matt. But, before they could get too far, I grabbed them by their ears. 

"Both of you, now isn't the time." I hissed, glaring at both of my siblings. "Matt, now isn't the time to kill them either. Do that after the show." Matt tightly furrowed his brows, still fuming. "Now come on, we've got to get going." I let go of my siblings, who both brought a hand up to their ear. 

Boscha drew a spell circle and Matt's clothes became dry, but the bucket still remained stuck on his foot. While he struggled to get it off, I grabbed my notebook off the table and put it under my arm.

"Did you guys get everything?" I asked the group, which I got a collective nod. Turning specifically to Edric, I eyed him up and down. "Do you have your drumsticks this time?" I asked him, remembering the last show where he left his sticks here. 

He quickly patted himself up and down for a moment, searching the inner pockets of his jacket before triumphantly pulling out his drumsticks. His sticks were carefully carved out of old bones from some creature I couldn't remember. 

Putting his sticks back in his pockets, he gave me a thumbs up. "Okay great. Now let's get going, Em still needs to set up her effects." Matt had finally managed to get the bucket off of his foot and he tried to toss it at Edric's head. Edric ducked, the bucket barely missing him before it loudly clanged against the wall. 

Grumbling under his breath, Matt angrily stomped towards the door, throwing it open and letting it slam against the wall before trudging outside. We all looked at each other before following him outside. 

Outside was our personal traveling cart with our equipment in a cart attached to the back. "We call the front!" The twins shouted in unison, dashing over towards the cart. Matt stared at them from the passenger side seat, and if looks could kill, both of them would be done for. 

Making our way over to the cart, Boscha and I climbed in the back and sat down in one of the soft seats. Boscha leaned over to the tiny cooler and pulled out herself a drink. "You want anything?" She asked me and I gave her a nod. 

"Just a water." I said, leaning my head back to stare at the room of the cart. Then, I had a water bottle thrown at my face. Another stream of curses flowed from my lips as Boscha just laughed.

"Sorry Amity." She chuckled, shrugging her shoulders. 

"You're not sorry." I muttered, taking a swig of my water. 

Boscha laughed again. "You're right, I'm not sorry." She flopped down in a seat and pulled up her scroll yet again, sipping her drink and texting away. 

"Be glad we have a show, otherwise I would've thrown some water at you." I said, taking another sip of my drink. The cart started to move, making our way to the concert. The two of us sat in silence, the only sounds coming from the creaking of the cart and the muffled sounds of people outside.

I slouched down in my seat, playing with the hem of my sweater. "Is your girlfriend coming to the show?" Boscha shook her head, making her scroll disappear. 

"She was going to." The pink haired witch started. "But she said something came up, so she can't make it." I could her voice take on a slightly disappointed tone, but she tried to cover it up. "But, we planned to meet up after the show, I mean, unless the band's doing something after." 

Shrugging my shoulders, I took another swig of my water bottle. "I mean, you might miss Matt ripping Edric's head off, but other than that you won't miss anything too important." Boscha opened her scroll again, clicking away for a moment. "Wait, didn't she already buy a ticket?"

"Yeah, but she gave it to someone." Boscha said, not looking up from her scroll.

"Who?" 

She shrugged, then continued to text "Dunno, asking her right now." Right as she said that, her scroll dinged again. Her eyes scanned over the message, slowly getting wider the longer she read. "Oh my gods." She said softly, her eyes darting from me to her scroll. 

"What is it?" I asked, looking at the wide eyed witch. She hesitated for a minute, then put away her scroll. 

"Nothing! Just something on Pensta." She stammered, a stupid smile on her face. "But uh, Willow says she gave her ticket to one of Augustus' friends." Based on her look and body language, I knew there was something she wasn't telling me. 

The cart suddenly lurched forward to a stop, and a loud knocking noise came from the front. I assumed it was one of my siblings letting me know that we were here. Boscha shot up from her seat, moving over towards the door. 

I followed after her, stepping out of the cart and closing the door behind us. "Guess we'll have to keep an eye out for Augustus then." I said to her, which she responded with a nod. 

"Alright you four." Matt called, stepping out of the cart. "We've still got two hours before the show, so we need to set up." I looked at the sky, staring at the sunset for a moment. The sky was a deep orange, slowly turning into a pale purple. 

The pale purple color was calming. It reminded me of my time in the book club, it reminded me of my time with her.

"Amity!" I was snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Matt's voice. "Can you get out of your head for five minutes?" He hissed, clearly irritated. Shaking my head, I cleared my thoughts and started to help them unload all of our equipment. 

Emira walked over to me, a few speakers floating behind her. "Hey Mittens, you alright?" She asked, and I couldn't tell if she was genuinely worried about me or not. I gave her a nod. 

"Yeah I'm alright. I was just thinking about... stuff." I could feel my cheeks heat up slightly. Emira chuckled, drawing another spell circle to float another speaker. 

"Let me guess, Luz's nickname is stuff?" Emira asked with a serious tone, not even looking at me. My ears went down in surprise, my face lighting up. I sputtered, not able to make a proper response. "Were you busy with stuff?" 

Her question made me choke, violent coughs wracking my body. Emira laughed, nearly dropping the speakers in the process. "No!" I managed to get out, still coughing. 

"Mittens, you should've seen your face!" Emira laughed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "What did you think I meant?" I knew if I said anything, Emira would not only say something about it to Edric, but they would both use it against me at some point. 

When Emira realized she wasn't going to get an answer out of me, she just shrugged and walked away, the speakers floating behind her. By the time I managed to catch my breath, Edric had already came over and started unloading his drums.

Shooting my sister a glare, I cast a few spells to pick up the last bit of the speakers, then grabbed my guitar and put it over my shoulder. I made my way to the stage, glancing out at the large empty room.

An empty room that'd be packed with people soon enough. 

The thought of the people cheering our names, their excited faces as we step out on stage, it made me smile. I carefully set the speakers on the stage, putting them in their places before I started to help Matt with connecting the speakers to everything. 

"Testing, one two three." Edric tapped his mircophone a few times, his voice echoing loudly in the building. "Yo Matt, maybe turn down this mic a bit?" He suggested. Matt muttered something under his breath, then moved over to the soundboard and adjusted the mic. 

Matt told Edric to test the other two mics, which we found out were both extremely quiet. The brown haired witch complained that we must have tampered with the mics because he had them "set to perfection" a few minutes ago. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. 

Leaning against the edge of the stage with my arms folded, I stared out at the empty room. It felt kinda odd being in the room with it this quiet, but I knew it wasn't going to last for much longer. 

"Wonder what Luz would think of all this." I thought to myself before my siblings called me backstage to get the final touches ready for the show. With a sigh, I spun around and followed the sound of the twins voices, a grin on my face as I thought of what was going to happen later tonight.


	3. Love in the spotlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, the first song in the book, which was suggested to me by Just_a_random_guy_only (And honestly thank you sm for that, you have no idea how easy that made things lol) So, here's the song link ->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QsWUa7lnbo
> 
> Also, I hope it's easy to tell when they're singing haha

Luz POV: 

"And with one swipe of Azura's mighty staff, a large fireball shot out towards Hecate's cage. The fireball shattered the cage's chains, freeing Azura's orange haired friend." I read aloud, one hand holding my book while the other rested on top of King's head. 

I was back in my old room, though now it was a little cleaner than before. My bed was still a sleeping bag, or a sleep cocoon as King would call it. The bag full of my things that I hadn't bothered to organized yet sat in the corner of the room. 

King laid curled up by my side, I didn't know if he was still listening to me reading or if he had dozed off. So I stopped reading for a minute, which allowed me to hear King's soft, steady breathing, telling me that he was asleep. 

A soft smile made its way on my face and I continued to read my book, this time to myself. It went silent for a little bit, with only King's breathing mixing with the soft sound of turning pages. 

From outside the door, I could hear footsteps that made the wooden boards creak, then a knock at my door. "Come in!" I called out, watching as Eda pushed open my door. 

"Hey there kiddo." She looked around my room, then sighed. "Sorry about the place still looking like this, I would've cleaned it up, but I forgot you were coming to stay." She muttered, taking a few steps into my room. 

"It's alright Eda." I smiled, setting my book down. "Organizing the room myself gives me a chance to find some cool magical items." Eda chuckled, running a hand through her silver mane. 

"I doubt you'll find anything too great in here. Most of this is just human stuff." She said, eyeing King for a moment before rolling her eyes. "Anyways, the whole reason why I came in here is because I found this. I assume it's yours." Eda held a small, thin, square looking object in her hand. 

My mentor went to give me the item, but her hand flew off in the process. The action made me jump, even though I had seen it happen multiple times before. "Weh!" King cried out of surprised, jolting up from his slumber and quickly looking around to see if there was any danger, only to find Eda's hand on the floor in front of him. 

"Whoops, sorry kid." She reached down and grabbed her hand off my bed, taking the item out of said hand and carefully handing it to me. 

"Hey it's alright, it's not like things got too out of hand." I aimed my finger guns at her and shot her a wink. Eda just sighed and hit me lightly upside the head, muttering something under her breath about how she had almost forgotten how bad my puns were. 

Eda went back over to my door, King quickly waddling after her. "Oh and you're going to that concert tonight, right?" I nodded in response. "Alright then, don't do anything you aren't supposed to, don't take any drugs, yadda yadda yadda." Eda waved her hands around, clearly not too interested in giving me rules to follow. "And I won't be home when you get back, I've gotta go out on a quest tonight."

"A quest?" I asked excitedly, slightly bouncing up and down. 

"Yep, just gotta find a few things for a potion I'm working on." She didn't give me an more details and walked out my door, King quickly following her and closing the door behind them. 

I stared at the place where they stood for a minute, then down at the item that Eda had handed me. It was a photo, and flipping it over I realized it was a photo of Amity and I. 

The photo from one of our book club meetings, Amity being towards the center of focus while I stood off towards the back. I had one hand up in the air, the other holding open a book. On my head was Azura's hat, which told me I was probably acting out one of Azura's scenes that didn't have Hecate. 

Then, there was Amity. Her hair was in its signature half ponytail, but she also had Hecate's crescent moon in her hair. She was winking at the camera, a small grin painted on her face as she poked her cheek with her finger. Her cheeks were dusted a light pink, standing out against her pale skin. 

And at the bottom, in Amity's neat handwriting was the caption "Watching Luzura's solo." with a few little hearts at the end of it. 

A content sigh came from my mouth, remembering some moments from the book club. "I'm glad I packed you along. I wonder if Amity still has hers..." I said softly, standing up and moving over towards my window. Pushing the window open, I stared out at the dark sky, watching as the clouds swirled through their seemingly endless purple sea. 

A light breeze entered my room, slightly ruffling my hair. Staring out, I saw a few shadows fly through the sky, then I saw a sudden set of bright lights turn on in the distance. They pointed towards the sky, then started to do slow circles, cutting through the air. I straightened up a little, trying to get a better view of the lights. "Something magic is in the air, I can sense it!" 

Closing my window, I quickly started to make my way out of my room before I paused. Looking down at my hand, I saw I was still holding the photo. "Oh right! I should probably leave you here so I don't lose you." 

I moved over towards my bag, kneeling down and opening the top flap. Sifting through it, I quickly found what I was looking for. It was a photo frame that held a picture of my mom, which was surprisingly didn't break when I accidentally dropped my bag back on Earth. 

With a faint smile, I carefully put the photo of Amity and I in the bottom left corner of the frame. Then, standing back up, I set the frame on the window sill. "I definitely have to decorate later." I muttered as I spun around, snatching my red beanie off the ground and throwing it on. 

Dashing down the steps, I threw open the front door and stepped outside. "Heya Luz!" Hooty greeted me loudly, making me jump. Spinning back around, I closed the door to look at Hooty. 

"Hi Hooty!" I greeted back, watching the little door owl spin around. 

"I'm so glad you're back! It's been lonely without you here." He said, which made me laugh. When you're living with Eda and King, it's far from lonely. "And I've really missed talking to you!" The door owl added, making me smile. 

"I've missed talking to you too Hooty." I knew that Hooty was pretty obnoxious, but at times, it was kinda nice to talk to the owl. While Hooty and I chatted, I forgot the main reason why I darted outside in the first place. 

Hooty started to talk about how he was while I was gone, and I slowly started to zone out. Most of his story was describing the same thing, but in a slightly different way. While he continued to talk on and on, I noticed that someone was slowly walking up the trail. 

Squinting my eyes, I tried to make out who it was, but because of their dark clothes, I couldn't tell who it was. "Uh, Hooty?" I tried to get the owl's attention, but my voice fell upon deaf ears.

The person continued to walk towards us, slowly getting closer. They waved their arm in the air, rapidly waving it from side to side. I stood still, Hooty still chatting away. Hooty hesitated for a minute, but then quickly picked up talking again. "Hey look! Another friend!" He said, clearly excited. 

"Hey Luz!" The person called out, then started jogging towards me. Once they got closer, I realized it was only Gus. He had on a pair of black jeans and a dark blue shirt. Over top his shirt he wore a black zip up hoodie, which he left unzipped. 

"I'm here too y'know?" Hooty commented, making Gus' expression drop. He slowly turned towards the owl. 

"Hello Hooty." He said, his voice drained of the excitement it held moments ago. However, his greeting seemed to make the door owl happy, because he spun around in circles once again. "Anyways, you ready to go?" Gus asked me, lightly bouncing on his feet. 

"Yeah I'm ready to go!" I brought my hands up to my face and pressed my cheeks together, excitement already pumping through my veins. Then, the whole reason why I came outside hit me. "Wait! Gus, I have a question!" 

"And I'll probably have an answer." He said, clearly amused by my excitement. 

"So, earlier I was looking out my window, and I saw these cool lights coming from over there!" I pointed towards the direction of where I saw the lights, Gus' eyes following where I was pointing. "Was that like, some sort of seance? A creature of some kind?" I asked him, watching him blink a couple of times before laughing. 

"Luz," He paused, catching his breath "those are the concert lights." 

"Oh." I murmured, my arms falling against my sides. A few more chuckles came from Gus, but they were quickly interrupted when Hooty stretched to sit between us. 

"A concert? Oh, I wish I could go to a concert." Hooty said as he twisted into spirals. I couldn't help but feel a little bad for him, he'd probably never able to see a concert, unless there was some magic way to do it. 

I lightly patted Hooty's body, making him retract back so that I was patting his head. "I'm sorry you can't go Hooty. But, I'll record it for you and we can watch it later tonight. Sound good?" 

Hooty gasped, his eyes lighting up. "That's perfect!" He hooted out, fully retracting back into the door. "You guys get going then! The faster you go, the faster I can watch the concert!" I lightly shook my head, then started to walk towards the trail with Gus not too far behind me. 

Halfway down the trail, I started to get curious. "So Gus..." I clasped my hands behind my back as we walked side by side. "Mind telling me a bit about the band?" 

"Well, the band first started a year ago, and they pretty much became a hit overnight. In fact, I'm pretty sure their concert tonight is celebrating their one year anniversary, cause their playing all their first songs." Gus thought for a moment, his eyes looking around at the trees. 

"The band's made up of the lead who sings and plays guitar, the bassist, and the drummer. There used to be a keyboardist, but she stopped playing and moved on to work on the band's special effects." Gus listened off the members, then just shrugged. "That's honestly really all you're gonna need to know." 

"What about the band member's names?" I nudged him slightly, accidentally making him stumble. He caught himself and continued walking. 

"It's a surprise, besides, you'll figure them out at the show." He said, sticking his hands in his jacket's pockets. 

"Oh c'mon Gus! Tell me!" I begged, giving Gus my puppy eyes. However, he didn't seem to be affected and he pretended to draw a zipper over his mouth to seal his lips. I sighed in irritation, slightly turning away from my friend. "Fine, be like that." I muttered, making Gus start to chuckle. 

"Luz, don't be like that. I want to keep the band members a surprise." He said with a cheeky grin and he lightly nudged me in the arm. 

"Why do you want to do that?" I asked, turning back towards him. Gus just shrugged, looking straight ahead on the trail again. 

"Just because it's fun." He took a left on the trail, I followed after him. Up ahead, I could see the lines of people that came here to see the concert, cutting our conversation short. 

Gus grabbed a hold of my arm and started to drag me forward, picking up his pace to a jog. "C'mon! We gotta get in line now so we can get good seats!" We both ran towards the lines, managing to get in a pretty good spot. 

The two of us stood behind an elf who was easily a head taller than I was. Looking around, I noticed that a bunch of the people that were in line were dressed a lot like Gus was. Looking down at the way I was dressed, I felt like I stood out, at least, a lot more than usual. 

"Uh, Gus? Was I supposed to dress different?" Gus looked at me, then eyed me up and down for a moment before shaking his head. 

"Nah, a lot of people just dress like this to match the band." I glanced down at his outfit, then back up at him. 

"Does that include you?" I teased, watching as his ears went down.

"What? No." He glanced down at his outfit, then tried to cover it with his jacket. "I just threw something on, I wanted to get out of my uniform." He muttered, quickly taking off his jacket and tying it around his waist to stand out. 

Gus and I started some small talk while we waited, the line slowly starting to dwindle down. And before I knew it, we were at the ticket stand. Managing the ticket stand was a tall, large worm looking guy. He had four eyes, each of them a pale shade of green. 

"Tickets please." He said in a gruff voice, the two of us digging into our pockets for our tickets. Once we found them, he took them from our hands and looked them over, his eyes squinting for a moment before he set the tickets down. "Enjoy the show." His voice remained monotone as he ushered us to the side.

The two of us followed where he was pointing, walking into a giant room with a stage towards the front. I slowly spun around, my eyes traveling all over the large building

"Wow, this place is huge." I commented, hearing Gus snort. He started to drag me forward, taking the two of us about 9 rows away from the stage. Gus made sure that we were standing center with the stage, just so that we could get a good view. 

"Luz, the Witches Convention was larger than this." Gus said, getting shoved slightly by someone that was walking behind him. I nodded my head, now staring at the stage. 

"I know it was." I said, not taking my eyes off the stage. "That place was giant." I slightly raised my voice so that he could hear me over the talk of the crowd. He just nodded, pulling open his scroll and tapping a few things on it before it floated high above our heads and turned invisible. "What did you just do?" I asked him, staring at the place his scroll was moments before. 

"Set it to record when the show starts, since Willow and Hooty want to see it." I still continued to stare at where his scroll was, wondering if it was an illusion spell that made it invisible. Then again, I didn't see him draw a spell circle for it, so maybe it was something that scrolls could do?

"When does the show start anyways?" I asked him, watching as he looked around at the amount of people that were filing into the room. 

"In about, I don't know, maybe ten minutes?" He continued to look around the room until his gaze landed on some stand across the room. "Hey, you want me to get you a drink?" He asked me. 

"Sure, just a water please." Gus nodded, then drew a quick spell circle to summon himself a placeholder. He then gave me a quick salute and darted off towards the stand, leaving me alone. 

Well, I mean, not technically since his placeholder was still here. 

I turned towards the fake Gus, squinting at it. Then, very slowly, I brought my hand over to it and tried to poke its shoulder. My hand simply phased through it, making me quickly pull back. 

"Okay, that's freaky." I remarked, turning away from the illusion. Staring at the stage again, I noticed I could see slight movement by the right wing of the stage. From where I was, I couldn't make out what the movement was caused by, but I assumed it had to be someone from the band. 

Everyone was chatting all around me, but I couldn't understand most of what they were saying. I was able to pick out a few words, but none of them were very interesting. 

There was a sudden crash that came from the stage, almost instantly hushing the crowd to a murmur. I couldn't see anything happening on the stage, so that meant something was happening backstage. Extremely muffled voices could barely be heard backstage, the voices barely louder than a mouse. 

People around me instantly started questioning what happened, their voices rising back up to the levels they were before. "What happened?" Gus asked me, his voice only a little louder than the rest. Looking over, I watched his illusion disappear and he stepped in its place, two cups in his hand. 

"Something crashed backstage." I said, taking the cup he offered me and thanking him. Looking at the cup, I saw four spider like limbs on the bottom and an eye pattern etched on the side. "This cup isn't alive, right?" I asked, which Gus shook his head in response. 

I took a small sip of the water from my cup, the cold liquid sliding down my throat. Looking around the room, I noticed it was practically packed now. Gus lightly nudged me in the side, then pointed to the floor. 

Looking at what he was pointing at, I noticed that there was a light fog that clung close to the ground, slowly seeping towards us. We both looked up at the stage, which was now pitch black, and noticed that the fog was coming from it. The fog crept across the entire room, coating the floor. 

The crowd slowly started to take notice of this too, their voices once again dying down to murmurs. The lights in the room suddenly shut off, and now the only source of light we had was coming from the fog. 

I couldn't help but start to bounce up and down, clutching my cup tightly in my hand. The show's about to start, I'm going to figure out who the band is, and I almost couldn't contain my excitement.

"Good evening everybody!" A loud announcer shouted into a mic, Gus covered his ears for a moment, muttering something I couldn't hear. "For tonight's show I'm proud to present, The Abominations!" 

Everyone went wild at the mere name of the band, which only made me more excited. Even though the crowds cheering didn't die down, there was the faint sound of drums that could be heard over it all. It was a few repetitive taps, and that alone was enough to draw everyone's attention. 

The tapping continued for a moment, then suddenly the dark stage lit up with a single spotlight. The spotlight swiveled towards the back of the stage, focusing on a dark purple drum set for a moment, then it slowly moved up and revealed the band's drummer. 

My bouncing stopped for a moment when I realized that the face behind the drums was Edric. I turned over to Gus, who just had a smirk on his face as he lightly tapped his foot to the beat. "Edric's in the band? Is that why you didn't want to tell me?" I shouted over the explosive crowd, now bouncing to the beat. 

Then, bass could be heard, and another spotlight went off. It aimed at the person's feet, slowly traveling up to reveal their face like they did for Edric. It trailed up, showing them picking their bass, then trailed up to their face. A shocked laugh escaped me when I saw Boscha's smirking face.

The crowd got even louder, Boscha shooting the crowd a proud grin as she closed her eyes then continued to strum her bass. Edric changed his tempo, matching up with Boscha's. 

I looked towards the last dark part of the stage, wondering who was still shrouded in the darkness. Boscha and Edric continued to make a beat, then a guitar tune was added to the mix. 

My excitement blew through the roof when the next spotlight went shone down on the stage, revealing dark grey boots. The spotlight repeated what it did for the other two band members, this time, going even slower. 

It slowly revealed their torso, showing them strumming their beetle looking guitar. The spotlight paused there for a moment, the crowd roaring as we all waited for the reveal. 

Then, in a flash, the spotlight revealed who the leader of the band was. 

Everything seemed to freeze. I stopped bouncing up and down and stood in shock, my eyes wide and my arms limp at my sides. I nearly dropped my drink in surprise. There was no way I was seeing things right, this couldn't be real. 

There, standing center stage, strumming her guitar with a smile that said you can bite it, stood Amity Blight. 

Heat immediately rushed to my cheeks, my face flushing a dark shade of red. I turned towards Gus, who was looking at me with a giant smile. Grabbing his shoulders, I shook him in a panic. "Amity's in the band?!" 

The crowd was going absolutely ballistic, the band continuing to play their tune. Gus only shrugged, the smile still stuck on his face. "Why do you think I wanted to keep it a surprise?" 

Everyone in the band suddenly stopped playing, the stage falling silent. My gaze instantly went back to the stage, focusing mainly on Amity. I watched as she carefully let her guitar hang off her shoulder, then grabbed the microphone and mic stand. 

"Hello Bonesborough!" Amity yelled into the mic, the crowd cheering once again. "How are you doing tonight?" She leaned the mic towards the crowd, smiling as the crowd exploded in a cacophony of voices. 

This couldn't be the same Amity I knew two years ago, there was no way. But the longer I stared, the more real it all started to feel. Amity started a band after I left and became a hit overnight, but wasn't she trying to be a part of the Emperor's coven? I could remember her saying that place was her future.

"Luz, you good?" Gus asked with a chuckle, shaking me slightly to get my attention. 

"Yeah, yeah totally." I nodded, not even looking over at him. 

"Okay, just making sure. You've just got this dopey grin on your face, and you're pretty red." He told me with a chuckle. I brought a hand up to my face, feeling just how warm my cheeks had become. 

"Can you blame me?" I muttered, still staring at Amity, who's golden eyes were glittering in the bright spotlight. "I just found out my crush is the lead singer in a band." I instantly clasped my hand over my mouth, realizing what I said aloud. Glancing over at Gus, I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized he didn't hear me. 

"We're so glad to see all of you out here tonight." Boscha's voice rang out, returning my attention to the stage. Amity nodded, bringing the mic closer to her. 

"And to thank you guys, we'll be preforming our first songs!" The crowd started cheering once again, pumping their fists into the air. Amity set the mic stand back in place, grabbing back onto her guitar. 

She glanced back at her band mates, a huge smile still painted on her face. "Hit it guys!"

The band instantly started playing which made the crowd erupt in a chorus of claps and whistles. 

"I'm gonna cast a spell on you, you're gonna do what I want you to."

"Mix it up here in my little bowl, say a few words and you lose control!"

I couldn't look away from the stage even if I tried. It was like her angelic voice put me in some deep trance, one that was too deep for me to pull myself out of, but I didn't care less.

"I'm a Hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you!"

"I'm gonna put a spell on you."

Boscha's voice mixed with Amity's as she picked up the background vocals. Edric's drumming got a bit more intense for only a moment, then it went back to it's original tempo. 

"I'm a Hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you!"

"Put a spell on you!"

Everyone around me was singing the lyrics with them, dancing to the song while I stood there absolutely starstruck. "You've definitely put a spell on me Amity." I muttered to myself, knowing I wouldn't be heard above the crowd. 

"You'll feel the fog as I cloud your mind."

"You'll get dizzy when I make the sign."

The fog that surrounded our feet glowed a little bright, making small swirling patterns that rose up before disappearing into thin air. 

"You'll wake up in the dead of night."

"Missing me when I'm out of sight."

"I'm a Hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you!"

"I'm gonna put a spell on you!"

Once again, Boscha's voice mixed with Amity's, the crowd singing the lines along with them. 

"I'm a Hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you~"

"Oh yeah!"

I noticed the how Amity's voice changed on her last line, her voice taking on a fruity tone. 

Boscha and Edric continued to play, but Amity stopped strumming her guitar. She took the mic off of it's stand and took a few steps forward on the stage, staring down the crowd. 

"With this little cobweb potion, you'll into dark devotion."

She pointed her finger out to the crowd, her eyes scanning over all of us. Her voice still held that fruity tone, which only made my chest swell. I watched as her eyes darted from person to person, that smirk on her face as she continued to sing. 

And, for a moment, I swore she made eye contact with me. Her eyes stopped scanning the crowd and widened in surprise, a look of shock plastered on her face. However, she didn't falter and continued to sing. 

"If you ever lose affection, I can change your whole direction!"

Edric's beat on the drums got faster, picking up the pace of the song. She walked backwards to her spot she was in moments ago, still staring in my direction. Snapping the mic back into place, she quickly grabbed her guitar and continued to play. 

"I'm a Hex Girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you!"

"I'm gonna put a spell on you!"

The crowd was practically screaming the lyrics along with the band, me included.

"I'm a Hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you!"

"We're gonna put a spell on all of you!"

The stage suddenly blew up into a wall of smoke, blocking everyone's view of the band. The crowd exploded with applauds and whistles, people screaming and cheering. I put two fingers in my mouth and let out a loud whistle that mixed in with the crowd. Looking over at Gus, I could see him shooting me a cheeky smile as he clapped his hands. 

The wall of smoke was slowly disappearing, revealing the band once again, but now it was different. Now, only Boscha and Edric was on the stage with Amity no where to be seen. I turned towards Gus, shooting him a confused look. "Where's Amity?" I asked him, which he only shrugged. 

Boscha took a hold of the mic, tapping it twice before speaking. "Now, for this next song, we normally have Amity as our lead singer." The crowd sent out another set of whistles and claps. "However, since it's a special occasion, we've decided to perform for you guys the unreleased version of this song." 

Everyone around me was starting to get riled up at the thought of the song. "Of course, a lot of you probably already know what this song is called, but let's see if you really know the lyrics." Boscha and Edric started up their song, both of them working wonders with their instruments. 

I nudged Gus, quickly getting his attention before the song started. "I'll be back." Was all I said to him. He nodded, quickly drawing a spell circle and making a placeholder for me, which was just another illusion of Gus. 

Sliding my way through the crowd, I managed to find a door that wasn't too far away from where Gus and I were. I slipped out the door, setting some rock in front of the door so that it wouldn't lock me out when it closed. Then, moving over to the wall, I leaned my back against it and slid down till I was sitting on the floor. 

I took off my beanie and ran a hand through my hair, a laugh of disbelief escaping my lips. "Amity's in a band?" I realized my statement came out more like a question. So many questions were flying through my mind that I couldn't keep up with them all. 

Was this why she didn't send me any letters besides the one? Why didn't anybody say anything about it in their letters? Was it because they thought she was filling me in on it all? How did I not find out about this sooner? I mean, Willow's girlfriend is a part of the band, surely she would have brought that up, right?

"At this point, does she even remember who I am?" I asked, but I quickly shook my head. "Of course she does Luz! Remember, Willow said that Boscha heard Amity talk about me all the time." 

I blinked a few times, setting my beanie down on the ground before running both of my hands through my hair. "Amity's in a band." I repeated, trying to solidify the fact into my mind. It just didn't feel real. Both of my hands went down to my cheeks, feeling the warmth that was still radiating off my face. 

"And to think I couldn't fall head over heels for her a second time." I muttered, a small, lopsided smile painted on my face. I placed my hands over my heart, leaning my head back onto the hard wall behind me. "Her voice really is an angel's." I swooned, listening to the slightly muted music of the band flood out the door to me. 

There were a few intense chords from Boscha's bass, then the crowd erupted once again into cheers and whistles. I realized that their song was over, and that meant that Amity was probably going to be back on stage soon. 

Putting my beanie back on, I quickly got up off the ground and slipped back into the large room. Eyeing the stage, I could see Amity appear from a cloud of smoke, making the crowd gasp. I tried to quickly make my way back to Gus before the next song started, slipping between the small gaps of people. 

Once I finally made it back to Gus, he banished his clone and asked me where I went. I just told him I needed some fresh air and that answer seemed to satisfy him. Staring up at the stage, my eyes followed the green haired witch the entire time, too lovestruck to look away. 

I already knew that no matter what happened after this, I was still going to consider tonight as an amazing night. And that's all because of her.


	4. Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes, but might I just say that writing Boscha's POV was a bit harder than I thought it was going to be.

Boscha POV:

The show went off without a hitch, everyone in the crowd going crazy after each song. And now, we were packing up all of our equipment, getting ready to head back to the studio before going home for the night. 

I leaned against one of the speakers backstage, scrolling through Penstagram. There were a lot of posts about our show, people showing off small clips of the show, some showing selfies with the stage behind them, others just showing off their merch. 

"What were you even thinking!" Matt roared, jabbing a finger into Emira's chest. I glanced up at the two, watching as Edric tried to separate the two of them. 

"Listen, it's not like I tried knock over his drums on purpose! It was dark, I couldn't see!" She pushed Matt back slightly, who looked like he was about to self combust out of anger. 

"This is why we make light spells!" He hissed, drawing a small light spell to show off his point. Emira shook her head, rubbing the bridge of her nose. 

"Matt, if I did make a light spell, no matter how small it was, it'd show off where I was at." She muttered, clearly done arguing with him. "And besides, if I did break his drums in any way, we could have fixed them with magic, simple as that." 

Emira then walked away from Matt, who was still fuming. Edric held him back, making sure he didn't try to go after her. Even from where he was, I could hear the long string of curses that was coming out of his mouth. He shoved Edric away from him, then stomped off somewhere backstage. 

The twins walked over towards me, both of them shaking their heads. "He has a really short temper some days." Edric muttered, glancing back at where Matt was. 

"Hey, it's almost as short as his height." I joked, making both the Blight twins laugh. 

"I say it's shorter than his height, if that's even possible." Emira remarked, making the three of us laugh even harder. Edric wiped his eyes, taking a deep breath before looking around. 

"Hey, have you seen Mittens around?" He asked, to which I shook my head. 

"Haven't seen her since the show. She probably stepped out for some fresh air." I said, looking down at my scroll for a moment before looking back up at the green haired witches. They both looked at each other, then shrugged. "Well, do you mind finding her? We're gonna start loading up the equipment." 

Nodding, I put away my scroll and walked deeper backstage, searching for the youngest Blight. "Amity?" I called, peering around a corner. Instead of Amity, I found Matt who was winding up one of the mic cords. 

He looked over at me, then furrowed his brows before scoffing. "What do you want?" Matt asked me, his tone bitter. 

"Have you seen Amity?" I asked, he jabbed a thumb to the right. 

"Last I saw her, she was over there. She's having some kind of crisis." He muttered, clearly annoyed by my question. 

"Thanks Matt." I walked towards the direction he pointed to, hearing him say a few things under his breath that I couldn't understand. 

"Yeah whatever." Matt muttered, putting away the mic before grabbing another one to wind up its cord. 

I peered around the corner, finding the youngest Blight pacing back and forth in a box filled room. From where I stood, it looked like she was arguing with herself. One minute, she would have her hand over her mouth with her brows furrowed, and the next she would wave her hands around and shake her head. 

Quietly walking over to her, she was too deep in focus to notice me. "There's no way that was her..." She muttered, squinting her eyes as she continued to pace. 

"Uh, Amity?" I reached a hand out and lightly placed it on her shoulder, making the poor witch jump in surprise. She placed a hand over her chest as she said something I couldn't understand. 

"Boscha, don't ever do that again." She told me in a shaky tone, which I just chuckled. 

"I wouldn't have had to do it if you weren't so deep in your thoughts." I said to her, which she just shook her head. "What's on your mind?" She threw her hands up into the air and sat down on one of the boxes lining the room.

"You'll think I'm crazy." She muttered, placing her head in her hands. I took a seat next to her on the box, placing a hand on her back. I could hear her start mumbling to herself, which none of it I could understand. 

"I promise you I won't." She looked up at me, her eyes darting around my face for a moment before sighing. 

"Alright fine." She took a deep breath, clasping both of her hands together before she started. "So, during our first song, the Hex girls one y'know? I was scanning the crowd when I had to sing the special chorus." 

I nodded, watching as she paused, moving her hands around her for a moment as she tried to figure out what to say. "And Boscha, I swear to the gods I saw Luz in the crowd." 

Blinking a few times, I realized I needed to act kinda surprised. Even though I knew Luz was in the crowd, all thanks to Willow giving her the ticket, I wasn't about to tell Amity that. "Really?" Amity nodded, rubbing her temples. 

"I'm losing my mind." She said softly as she ran her hands through her hair, messing up her half ponytail. I patted her on the back while she continued to mumble to herself. 

Amity leaned back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. "Amity, I doubt you're losing your mind." I told her, standing up and holding out my hand for her to take. "If anything, you're just overworked." 

She took my hand and stood up, rubbing the back of her neck. "You're probably right." She agreed, her gaze moving to the floor. I nodded, dragging her back around the corner.

The two of us nearly ran into Edric, who was carrying a few of the speakers in his arms. He turned slightly, then his eyes lit up. "Oh hey! You found her!" He strained, slightly adjusting his grip on the speakers.

I quickly took a few of the speakers off of him so that he wouldn't drop any of them. He breathed a sigh of relief, hoisting the speakers up a little higher. "Thanks Boscha. Anyways, what were you doing Mittens?" 

"Thinking." She responded, taking a speaker off of Edric's pile and moving to take them to the cart. Edric looked at me, raising an eyebrow, but I just shrugged and started taking the speakers to the cart. 

Putting the speakers in the cart, I bent down and started strapping them down, I heard Edric's heavy footsteps behind me before he put down the speakers with a large thud. He stood up straight, popping his back a few times. 

I tightened the ropes around the speakers, tugging it a few times to make sure it'd stay in place. Then, standing back up, I turned towards Edric. I watched him struggle trying to strap them down. 

"You need any help?" I asked him, watching as he tried to pull the ropes around the speakers. 

"No, I got it." He sighed before he dropped the ropes and stood up, drawing a small spell circle that bound the speakers together with a small pink line. Emira walked behind the two of us, silently counting off the speakers we brought in. 

"That's everything." She said with a smile as she placed a hand on her hip. "Where's Matt and Mittens?" I shrugged, but Edric was able to respond for me. 

"They're both already in the cart." He said as we all stepped out of the cart. "Are you riding in the back with Mittens?" Edric asked me, which I nodded. He gave me a short nod back, then the twins made their way over to the cart.

I followed after them, pulling out my scroll when I felt it buzz. A soft smile landed on my face when I saw it was a message from Willow, just saying hi. I started to type a message back, opening the cart door and walking inside. 

Amity sat at the seat closest to the door, her head resting at the top of the seat. Her eyes followed me, watching as I moved to her right and sat down, crossing my legs as I continued to type away. 

We stayed silent for a moment as I continued to text Willow. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Amity sit up straight before looking over in my direction. She leaned in my direction slightly, then snorted. 

"Willove?" I felt my ears go down and the heat immediately rush to my cheeks. "That's Willow's contact name?" Amity managed to get out between chuckles. 

"Shut up." I stammered, giving her a light shove. She continued to laugh, giving me a light shove back. 

"Does she know that's her contact name?" She asked, a sly smirk placed on her face. The cart lurched slightly, signaling that we were on our way back to the studio. I turned away from Amity, trying to hide my face with my scroll. 

"No." I softly said.

"What was that Boscha? I didn't hear you." Amity said in a singsong tone.

"No." I said a little louder, earning me another chuckle from the green haired witch. I shoved her away again, this time making her gasp in surprise. She struggled to keep her balance before she fell to the cart's floor with a soft thud. 

Now it was my turn to laugh. Amity picked herself up off the floor and dusted herself off before sitting back down next to me. My scroll buzzed again and I turned my attention to it, a smile reappearing on my face when I saw it was another message from Willow. 

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet. When the cart lurched forward again, a loud set of knocks came from the front of the cart, telling us that we were back at the studio. I got up and went to the door, opening it with a loud creak. "Amity? You coming?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder at the other witch, who hadn't moved. 

Amity was out cold, her head resting against the top of the seat. I could hear soft snores come from the witch as she slept. Rolling my eyes, I went over to her and shook her shoulder. She awoke with a start, shaking her head a few times before looking up at me. "C'mon, we're at the studio."

She groggily stood up, carefully rubbing her eyes to not mess up her makeup as she walked over to the door. "Enjoy your nap Mittens?" Emira questioned as she slung an arm around Amity's shoulders. Amity mumbled some response to the older witch before lightly shoving her sister away. 

Matt stepped out of the cart, not even looking at the four of us before he went inside. The twins ruffled Amity's hair before moving to the cart that had our equipment so they could start unloading it. I started to follow them, but I was stopped in my tracks when someone grabbed my shoulder. 

I spun around and was met face to face with Amity. "You can head out, go see Willow." She said with a soft smile on her face. My eyes widened slightly. 

"I can help unpack the equipment first-" I started, but she just shook her head. 

"It's fine, my siblings and I got it. You go and have fun." I slowly smiled, then pulled the green haired witch into a hug. My actions caught her off guard, she stood frozen for a moment before lightly patting my back. 

Letting go, I took a few steps back. I gave the witch a quick wave goodbye before spinning on my heel and walking away. "Remember! We're meeting up tomorrow so we can start looking for a new drummer!" Amity called out to me and I gave her a thumbs up in response.

Walking along the dirt road, I pulled out my scroll and pulled open my messages. Going into Willow's contact, I messaged her and asked if she was busy doing anything at the moment. She responded almost right away, saying that she wasn't. 

I couldn't help but smile, quickly sending her another message asking if I could come over. Willow responded quickly, saying that it'd be fine if I came over, ending her message with a heart. A content sigh escaped me as my ears went down. 

"I love her." I swooned, knowing that I had a dopey grin plastered on my face. I bet if I were to look in a mirror, I would be able to see hearts in my eyes. 

Continuing on the roads, I eventually made my way to Willow's house. Walking up to the front door, I quickly shot Willow a message saying that I was at the door. I didn't want to knock and risk waking up her parents, and while they did like me, I doubt they'd want to find me at their door this late at night. 

The silence that surrounded me while I waited was nice, it was relaxing. A soft sigh left me as I stared up at the stars. My ears perked up when I heard the sound of a shifting lock, and turning back around to face the door, I watched as Willow opened it. 

With a large smile, I quickly picked her up and started to spin her around, the silence now being filled with our soft laughter. Giving her a quick peck on the lips, I put her back down on her feet. "It's good to see you babe." Her cheeks were dusted a dark pink as she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. 

"Sorry about dropping by so late." I whispered as she pulled me into her room, closing her door behind us. Slowly walking over to her bed, I kicked off my shoes and took a seat on her bed. Willow took a seat next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder. "I know how you like to go to bed early." 

"It's fine Boscha." Her voice was soft with a hint of drowsiness, her hand taking a hold of mine. "I'm sorry I had to miss your concert." She mumbled, her thumb rubbing small circles on my hand. 

"Pssh!" I waved my free hand in circles. "It's one concert, and it's not like it was my last one." I could feel her nod her head. She then sat up, her hand letting go of mine. I looked over at her and she motioned for me to turn around. 

I did as she asked, turning around so my back was facing her. She carefully reached up and took my hair out of it's bun, letting my hair flow down my shoulders. Then, she slowly started to run her fingers through my hair, muttering something about how soft my hair was. 

"But, speaking of the concert..." I started, turning slightly to look at the witch behind me. She raised an eyebrow, but she continued to run her fingers through my hair. "Luz is back in town?" I asked aloud, a hum of confirmation coming from my girlfriend's lips. 

"Back and here to stay." She said, making me straighten up instantly. 

"She's actually staying in the Boiling Isles?" My voice rose slightly, but Willow only nodded her head. 

"That's what she told me and Gus." She stopped running her fingers through my hair. I could feel her start to braid my hair, working quickly but gently at the same time. 

"Oh boy, Amity's gonna love that." I said with a smirk on my face, already picturing the youngest Blight's reaction to her favorite human staying at the Boiling Isles. Willow tensed up behind me, she stopped braiding my hair for a moment, then continued. 

"Speaking of Amity..." Willow hesitated before continuing. "Did you tell her about Luz going to the concert?" I softly shook my head. "You didn't tell her? Why not?" 

"Two reasons. First of all, I knew she had no idea Luz was back when you told me, because if she did know, she would've been freaking out to me about it. Secondly, I didn't want her to mess up on stage trying to search for Luz in the crowd. She's crushing on that girl hard, telling her that Luz was back in town would mess her up." 

Willow finished braiding my hair and quickly tied it off, allowing me to turn back around to face her. She slowly nodded her head. "Okay, I guess that makes sense, so what did you tell her?" 

"Just said you gave your ticket to one of Augustus' friends." I shrugged. "It's not like I lied to her." Willow nodded again, her brows furrowed tightly together as she bit her lip. I recognized that look anywhere, smirking slightly I crossed my arms over my chest. "It looks like you're thinking of some kind of idea, spill." 

She brought a hand up to her mouth, still looking down as she remained deep in thought. "We both know that Amity's got a major crush on Luz." I nodded my head. "And we both know that Luz is staying in the Boiling Isles." 

I nodded again. "What are you getting at?" 

"Well, what if we, oh I don't know, hook the two of them up?" She proposed, making me blink a few times. 

"Willow, babe, as much as I'd love to do that," I rested my hands on her shoulders. "we don't even know if Luz likes Amity that way. And if we tried to hook them up and things go badly between the two, it'd destroy Amity." Willow rolled her eyes and stood up, moving over to her desk and opening a few drawers before pulling out a collection of papers. 

"Here's the thing." She passed me the papers and I quickly started to scan them over. They were letters from Luz. "I'm pretty sure that Luz has a crush on Amity as well." I looked up at my girlfriend, raising an eyebrow. "C'mon, you remember how Luz was with Amity, the two of them were constantly hanging out, Luz was always talking about her, and you can't forget how she acted when Amity was around."

I shuffled through the letters, finding a new one to read. "Babe, that doesn't mean Luz has a crush on her." I muttered, still scanning over the letter. "Does she always ramble this much?" I asked, looking up from the papers. Willow nodded her head. 

"But look..." She quickly flipped through the letters before her face lit up when she stopped on one. Handing me the letter, she pointed to one of the many lines that was scribbled down. 

"Before you and I got together, I sent her a letter asking her for some advice on how to say I liked you." She explained, looking away with a light blush painting her cheeks. "She sent this back, and that's what caught my eye." 

I read over the letter, chuckling slightly at the dumb advice that Luz gave her. Then, I started to scan over what Willow was pointing at. 

"I wish I could be there to help you confess. In fact, I wish I was there with you all, even if it's just for a minute. I really miss all of you guys, and there's still something super important I need to tell Amity, but I guess that'll have to wait till I get back huh?"

Squinting slightly, I placed the letter down in my lap. "Okay, so maybe there's a chance, but there isn't solid proof yet." Willow nodded, sitting back down next to me. I could hear her hum softly, trying to think of something. 

"Well then, I don't know what to do." Willow stood up again, taking off her glasses and setting them on the small table next to her bed before sitting back down next to me. She leaned up against me, clearly tired.

I wrapped an arm around her, holding her close to me. "Hey, don't worry about it too much. Why don't we get some sleep and we can think about it more later, okay?" She softly nodded, wrapping her arms around my waist before laying down, dragging me down with a yelp. 

She laughed at my reaction, nuzzling her face into my neck. I could feel her warm breath on my neck, making my face flush red. "You're tense." She mumbled softly with a chuckle. 

"You randomly pulled me down, why wouldn't I be?" I stammered out, earning another chuckle. Trying to relax, I put my arm around her, suddenly feeling tired myself. My eyes started to flutter shut before fully closing, everything going dark. 

It was silent for a few minutes, the only thing I could hear was Willow's soft breathing. I assumed she was already asleep, and I could feel myself slowly starting to drift off.

It was nice being with Willow like this. Just the two of us after a long day, relaxing with one another in the silence. I mean, I love all the attention I get from the fans, I really do, but they don't matter. What matters to me is her, and if I had to trade away all my fame for her, I would in a heartbeat. 

Suddenly, Willow shot up in bed with a gasp, startling me. "Willow? What's the matter?" I asked, sitting up with her while I rubbed my eyes. I could hear a high pitched squeal coming from her as she grabbed my shoulders and started to shake me. 

"Boscha! The band is having drummer auditions soon, right?" She spoke quickly, making it hard to understand what she was saying. I slowly nodded my head, and even though I could barely see her face in the dark light of the room, I could tell her eyes instantly lit up. 

"Why do you ask?" I slowly questioned, wondering why this suddenly came to mind. Another high pitched squeal came from my girlfriend as she shook me again. 

"I'm asking because of Luz!" She let go of my shoulders and ran her hands through her hair, a chuckle escaping her lips. "Oh my gods this is perfect..." She trailed off as another attack of giggles hit her. 

"What?" I asked, completely lost on what Willow was trying to say. 

"Boscha, when Gus and I met up with Luz earlier today, she filled us in on stuff that'd happened to her while she was back on Earth." I nodded, waiting for her to continue to explain. "And she mentioned how she got into drumming!" 

My jaw dropped, I blinked a few times to take in what she said. Luz is into drumming? That's honestly pretty convenient, considering the fact that we're looking for a new drummer. 

"So if we can get Luz to audition to be in your guy's band, we can get them to meet up!" She exclaimed, tightly squeezing my arms. 

"And if they meet up at the audition..." I started, a large smile starting to grow on my face. "We can figure out how Luz feels about Amity!" Willow rapidly nodded, a toothy smile on her face. 

"It won't matter if Luz makes it in the band or not-" Willow started, practically bouncing up and down with excitement. 

"Because either way, Amity's going to find a way to hang out with her!" I finished, Willow squealing once again. She pulled me into a tight hug, and started to laugh, which sounded like music to my ears. 

"We've just got to make sure she knows about the auditions tomorrow." I said, hugging Willow back. She nodded as she pulled away from me. 

"I'll make sure she knows! Gus, Luz and I can all hang out tomorrow, and I'll say I got a message from you about the auditions. Then Gus and I will convince her to go try out, and the two of them will be able to meet up!" The amount of excitement that filled her voice when she explained her plan was making me smile like an idiot.

"Perfect." I said, kissing her forehead. She smiled, her nose scrunching up out of happiness. "I'll make sure Amity has no idea, to keep it a surprise." Willow nodded again, her eyes still bright even in the dark light. 

"I'll make sure to message you if she goes to try out, that way you'll know." Willow yawned, the adrenaline of the plan slowly wearing out. "What time are you guys starting auditions tomorrow anyways?" She asked, leaning against me again. 

"Not too sure, but knowing Amity she's probably gonna start it early." Willow mumbled something, slowly wrapping her arms around my waist again. But, before she could drag me down and startle me again, I slowly laid the two of us down. 

Her head rested on my chest and her breathing quickly slowed down to a steady pace, telling me that she was asleep. But now, I couldn't sleep. So, very carefully, I pulled out my scroll and turned it on, hissing when I saw the bright light. 

Turning down both my brightness and my volume, I started to scroll through Pentsa. There wasn't anything too interesting, but it was giving me something to do rather than just stare at the dark ceiling. 

I lost track of time as I tried to wear myself out, but after a few hours of failing to fall asleep, my scroll buzzed with a message. It was from Amity, asking me if I was still awake. "Amity's still up?" I muttered, messaging her that I was. 

I messaged her again, asking her what she was still doing up this late. It showed me that she was typing out a message, which lasted for a couple of minutes before she fell silent. Then, it showed her typing again before she finally sent me her message. 

"Can't sleep." I read, squinting my eyes because I knew that wasn't all she wanted to say. However, I just rolled my eyes and decided to not push it. "Neither can I." I muttered, sending the message before turning off my scroll with a sigh. 

Willow shifted slightly, nuzzling up closer to me before remaining still once again. I slowly started to run my fingers through her hair, careful not to wake her up. Feeling my scroll buzz again, I struggled to open it with one hand before succeeding. 

"What's got you up so late?" I read, blinking a few times. "I could ask you the same thing." I scoffed as I pressed send, rubbing my eyes as I waited for a response. 

A yawn pushed past my lips, my eyelids drooping slightly before they snapped open when I felt another buzz. "I've just been stuck thinking." She messaged and I had to suppress a small chuckle. "What's new there Amity?" I asked aloud.

"Whatcha thinking about? Wait, let me guess, Luz?" I sent, struggling to stifle another soft chuckle. 

She almost instantly responded. "No." I rolled my eyes at her response. "I'm just thinking. Why do you think I was thinking about Luz?" 

"Maybe it's because she constantly seems to be on your mind." I texted her, freezing in place when I felt Willow shift again. 

"She's not constantly on my mind." She messaged back, I only shook my head. 

"Oh Amity, you poor lovesick witch." I said to myself, already typing away my response. "Amity, you're convinced that you saw Luz in the crowd at tonight's show." 

There was a long pause, then Amity only sent me three dots. "So what was that about Luz not being on your mind?" I sent with a snicker, Amity falling silent again. 

A few minutes went by without a response, and I wondered if she was just going to give me the cold shoulder now. Just as that came to mind, I felt the familiar buzz come from my scroll. "Night Boscha." 

I could just hear the tone she would have saying that line, the breaking cold tone that she'd try to use to mask the fact she was flustered. I stuck out my tongue and quickly typed out another message. 

"Oh come on Amity, you know I'm right." I hit send and waited, getting a response from the youngest Blight shortly after. 

"Nope, not having this conversation. Good night." I sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to fight with me. I stared at her last message for a moment, then remembered what Willow and I were talking about earlier, the plan that we needed to get into action as soon as possible. 

"Wait, before you go, if tomorrow's auditions are slow, you wanna go out to the market or something?" I sent, hoping that she would say yes. She started typing out a message, pausing for a moment, then typing out her message again. 

"Why the market?" She questioned, and I scrambled to try and find some kind of excuse.

"Why not the market? Maybe they'll have some cool stuff out." I typed out, hoping that would be enough to convince her. She went silent for a minute, then I could see her typing. 

"Sure, but not for long." A large grin appeared on my face, honestly a little surprised that she agreed. But it didn't matter, cause now our plan was in action. 

"That works for me. Night Amity." I sent my final message for the night, putting away my scroll and getting comfortable for the night. 

My eyelids felt heavy, and very slowly they closed. I took in a deep breath that I slowly let out, just letting myself melt into the bed as I snuggled with Willow. Willow squeezed me a little tighter, making me smile as I finally drifted off to sleep.


	5. Old friends, new talents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a bit longer than others, hope you guys don't mind! But other than that, no important notes!

Luz POV:

"Luz!" King's squeaky voice called my name as he repeatedly hit my face with his paw. "C'mon get up!" He made sure to smack the bridge of my nose a little harder, making me crack an eye open before lightly shoving him away. 

"Five more minutes." I mumbled in a husky tone, rolling over on my side. King's little footsteps made the wooden boards beneath us creak as he moved over in front of my face. Barely opening my eyes, I saw the demon sitting in front of me with his head tilted slightly to the left. 

He then hit my face again, making me hiss. "But Luz! I'm hungry and I can't wait five minutes!" The tiny demon whined. 

"Then have Eda get you something." I said to him, placing my hand on the top of his head and giving him a soft pat. My hand then slowly slid down his face as I started to doze off again, my hand connecting to the wood floor with a soft thud. His tiny paw smacked my upper arm, a low whine coming from his muzzle. 

"But Eda doesn't know how to make those square cake things!" He complained, smacking my arm again. Rubbing my eyes, I slowly sat up and stretched, wincing as my back popped in a few different places. My body felt a little sore, I really need to ask Eda to get me a mattress or something. 

King hopped in my lap, patiently waiting for me to get up. "Square cake things?" I questioned, unable to understand what he meant because my brain still wasn't up. He frantically nodded his head, his pupils wide. 

"Yeah! The cool little square cake things you would make when you were here! They had little square holes all over it." He pointed his tiny fingers out and poked the air, signaling tiny holes. 

I thought for a moment, wracking my brain for some sort of food that would match that description. "Waffles?" I finally asked, which made King nod excitedly. 

"Yeah waffles! I haven't had them since you left!" He threw his arms up in the air, I just shook my head with a chuckle. Picking up the tiny demon, I got up off the floor and started to make my way downstairs. 

"Does Eda even have the things for waffles?" I asked King, which he just shrugged. "Well, let's hope she does. Otherwise, you might be out of luck."

King laughed, dropping down from my arms and placing his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest. "The mighty King of Demons is never out of luck!" I just rolled my eyes and shook my head as I thought of a few times where the tiny demon's luck fell short. Walking downstairs I noticed how each step loudly creaked underneath my feet. 

The tiny demon bounded down the steps after me, his cute little chuckle lightly echoing off the cluttered walls. The house was surprisingly quiet, which meant that Eda and Hooty were probably still asleep.

We both migrated to the kitchen, King hopped up on the counter and grabbed a large, dark maroon bowl. I made my way over to the cupboards, pulling open a few while I searched for the ingredients. 

"Did Eda move everything in the cupboards or something?" I asked, finding a bag that vaguely resembled flour. Opening the bag, I peered inside and cautiously reached into it, pulling out some white powder. Rolling it between my fingers, it felt like it was flour. 

"Well, Hooty shot out everything in the cupboards awhile back and I'm pretty sure she just put them back in however." King said, scrounging through a drawer to find a whisk. I placed a small bit of the powder on my tongue, confirming that it was actually flour. 

I set the bag on the counter then got King to help me find the rest of the ingredients. Soon enough, we had managed to find everything, or at least something to substitute everything. I held up a purple tinted egg, eyeing it up and down. 

"What kind of egg is this?" I hesitantly asked King, his head turning over towards me. He scampered over, taking the egg out of my hand and scanning it for a moment. Lightly tapping it with his claw, he shrugged his shoulders. 

"It's either a hedguin egg or a rhynabi egg. Either way, they're both harmless as long as they don't shake." He responded, placing the egg down on the table. He then flopped down on a seat, resting his head in his hands and waited patiently for me to begin cooking. 

Making a mental note to figure out what either of those creatures are, I started to put the ingredients together in the dark bowl. I worked quickly, whisking the ingredients together in record time. Looking up from my whisking, I found King staring at me, his eyes big with excitement. 

"Hey King?" I snapped him out of his little trance, a small weh of confusion coming from him. "Does Eda still have that waffle maker?" He brought a hand up to his mouth, looking down while he thought. 

A low hum came from him for a moment, then he shook his head. "Nope, pretty sure she faced against some beast and got it destroyed. But, I can go look for another one! I guarantee she's got another one around her in all these piles of junk." He hopped off his seat and ran off, searching in the piles that lined the walls for the waffle maker. 

"Just be careful!" I called after him, wincing when I heard a loud crash come from the living room. He called out to me and said he was alright, then continued to sift through the piles. I just shook my head, looking down at the batter I deemed it mixed enough and just set the bowl down on the counter. 

With a soft sigh, I leaned on the counter and looked around the kitchen. Nothing's really changed, maybe a few new items here and there, but nothing drastic. A few minutes passed and King still wasn't back with a waffle maker, so to entertain myself I started to whistle a tune. 

It first started out as a random tune, then it slowly turned into a song from last night. "With this little cobweb potion, you'll fall into dark devotion~" I softly sang, memories of last night flooding my mind. 

I spun around, nearly losing my balance in the process. "If you ever lose affection, I can change your whole direction~" I continued, singing a little louder. Amity's voice echoed in my mind, dragging me into my own little world. 

But before I could got too far into my head, King ran into the room with a waffle maker under his arm. "Found it!" He called out, startling me slightly. The demon ran up to me and held out the waffle maker for me to take, I thanked him for finding it and took it from him, plugging it in and waiting for it to heat up. 

"I told you she'd have another one!" King exclaimed, which I just nodded. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him tilt his head. "Luz? Are you okay?" I blinked a few times, then gave him a nod, a smile finding its way to my face. 

"Yeah I'm alright King, just thinking about last night." I said, petting the top of his head. He looked up at my hand, then back at me, his eyes angling downwards. 

"Did something bad happen? Who did it? I'll make sure they pay!" He exclaimed as he stood up in his chair, making me laugh. I patted his head, hovering my other hand over the waffle maker to make sure it was warm enough. 

"Nothing bad happened, don't worry. In fact, it was a really good night." I said softly, opening the waffle maker and pouring some of the batter inside. King made a gagging noise, then folded his arms. 

"You sound all swoony, what happened?" I closed the waffle maker and made sure it shut tight before flipping the little tray. Shrugging my shoulders, I leaned onto the counter and lightly booped his bony nose. 

"Just saw some old friends, that's all." I commented, King just rolled his eyes. "Hey, whaddya want to drink?" I asked the tiny demon, watching as he rubbed his paws together. 

"The blood of the innocent!" He said happily, making me just shake my head. Looking in the cooler, I found some bottle filled with a red looking smoothie. Around the bottle was a tag that read "King's smoothie" I held the bottle out, shaking it slightly. 

"I assume you mean this?" Looking back at him, I watched him nod his head. Reaching up in the cupboard, I found him a glass and put the bottles contents in it. Tossing the now empty bottle in the trash, I went back over to King and handed him the glass, which he happily took. His paws reached across the table to grab himself a straw, which he put in the glass before taking a sip. 

I went back over to the cooler, glancing at its contents. "Does Eda still need her elixir?" I asked King, which he did a half and half symbol with his hand. 

"Kinda?" He paused, taking a long sip of his drink. "She managed to get this stronger one a few months back, so she doesn't need to take it as often." Moving over to the waffle maker, I flipped the tray over and opened it. Finding a small stick, I poked the center of the waffle to make sure it was cooked all the way through. 

"Well, does she need to take one today?" I questioned, taking the waffles out of the waffle maker and putting them on a plate. "How many do you want?" I also added, pointing to the waffles. 

"One please! And, uh..." He paused, thinking for a moment while I dished up his plate. King lightly tapped his head, then nodded. "Yeah, Eda needs to take her elixir." 

Moving to another cupboard, I opened it and managed to find some syrup. Holding the bottle out, I looked at King, then the bottle, silently asking him if he wanted some for his waffle. 

King's eyes lit up and he nodded his head. I popped open the cap and started to pour the sticky liquid on his waffle. "Say when." I put on a corny accent, putting one arm behind my back like a waiter. 

"That's good." I stopped pouring the syrup and put the cap back on. Then, moving back to the remaining waffles, I picked up two and put them on another plate, then stuck the last one in my mouth. 

Putting the other plate on the table, I went back to the cooler and pulled out a squarish bottle that looked like Eda's elixir. I scanned over the label, finding it had the same label as her old elixir despite this new elixir having a more orange tint to it. 

Opening up the cupboards again, I managed to find one that was filled to the brim with miscellaneous mugs and glasses. Scanning over them all, I ended up just grabbing her a wine glass.

I popped the cork off the elixir and poured it into the wine glass, then set it by her plate of waffles. 

King and I finished up our breakfasts, he gave me a little hug as a thank you. I took his plate to the sink and started to rinse it off, then I heard heavy footsteps creak down the stairs. 

Looking behind me, I saw Eda. She was barely awake, dragging her feet to the table before taking a seat. "Morning Eda!" I chirped, earning me a grunt in response. "I made breakfast, and there's your elixir. King told me you need to take it."

She hummed in response, picking up her glass and carefully swirling the drink before taking a sip. Looking down at the waffles on her plate, a lopsided smile appeared on her face. "You actually managed to make this stuff?" 

I nodded, Eda snorting in response. "You surprisingly had a bunch of the actual ingredients, and if you didn't have an ingredient, King helped me find a substitute." She looked at me, then back at the waffles. 

"You sure he didn't poison this?" She muttered, pointing to the waffles. 

"I mean, he ate some himself so..." Eda stared at the waffles for a moment, then shrugged, picking one up and taking a bite. Her eyes lit up, but she tried to hide it. 

"Not bad kiddo." She said with a mouth full of waffle. I finished cleaning off King's plate and started to dry it off. Then, I put the plate back in the cupboard, sticking it in a spot that I hoped wouldn't cause the whole stack to collapse.

Spinning on my heel, I went to go back up to my room, but was stopped when Hooty swung open. "Hoot hoot! Luz! People are here for you!" He loudly called, making me and Eda jump and nearly choke on her food. 

While Eda nagged Hooty about scaring her, I went over to see who was at the door. "Oh, hey guys!" I grinned when I saw Gus and Willow standing at the door.

"Hiya Luz!" Willow greeted, her glasses slipping slightly. She quickly adjusted them, then peered inside the house. "Are you busy?" Willow asked, I shook my head and gestured them to come inside. 

They both walked inside, their eyes wandering around the room full of random little trinkets. Eda eyed my friends up and down, a small smirk on her face. "Ah, if it isn't the plant one and the dweeb." She pulled them both in a headlock before quickly letting go. 

"Good to see you too Miss Owl Lady." Gus stammered out, tugging at the collar of his shirt. Eda rolled her eyes, then went over and ruffled his hair. 

"Just call me Eda kid. I'm not like my sister, no need to be all formal. Anyways, I'm going out. Don't do anything stupid." She pointed to the three of us, her brows furrowed tightly together. Moving back to the stairs to go get whatever she needed, Eda ruffled my hair. "You gonna go change or what kiddo?" 

I looked down at my clothes, noticing I was still in my pajamas. "Uh, yeah, I'll be right back!" I shot my friends a quick two fingers salute before darting up the stairs back into my room. 

Tearing into my bag, I grabbed a random shirt and shorts and put them on. I glanced down at my outfit, a long pair of light blue shorts and a black t-shirt with the sleeves and collar ripped, making it more like a tanktop. 

Still, it felt like it was missing something. I looked around my room, my eyes lighting up when I spotted my flannel by my sleeping bag. Snagging it off the floor I looked it over, making sure it looked alright to wear. 

Putting it on and grabbing my beanie, I went back downstairs. "I'm back!" I called, jumping off the last few steps. Gus and Willow were sitting on the couch, looking a little startled by my entrance. 

"So!" I bounded over to the couch and sat to their left, clasping my hands together in my lap. "What are you guys doing here?" Gus looked over to Willow, who just shrugged her shoulders. 

"Just thought we'd stop by." Willow shifted and Gus hissed, rubbing his arm, but he put on a quick smile and nodded. "Wanted to see if you could hang out since it's been two years, y'know?" I nodded, leaning back on the couch. 

"Well, lucky for us, I'm not busy. Which means, we can hang out!" My friends smiled, Gus drawing a small spell circle and summoning himself a book. I wasn't able to catch sight of the title, but I assumed it was some sort of book on magic. 

"Whatcha reading Gus?" I asked, leaning over slightly to read some of the text. Gus looked up at me, then back down at the book. He then drew a small spell circle and summoned a small illusion of some kind of creature on the Boiling Isles. 

"Just a book on the different creatures in the Boiling Isles. I thought while we hung out, I could practice my magic and entertain you guys." My eyes widened slightly as I nodded my head. 

He flipped through the pages for a moment, then pointed his finger at one of the pictures in the book. Eyeing it over for a moment, he drew a small circle and summoned the creature, which was some pale blue looking dinosaur. It was covered in eyes, two sets of wings lining it's back, a long muzzle lined with stripes sticking out on its face. 

"What is that?" I asked, pointing to the creature. The creature looked up at my hand, then tried to bite my finger. I pulled away on instinct even though I knew it wouldn't be able to hurt me. With a wave of Gus' hand, he banished the tiny creature. 

"That was a hedguin." He said, making me stiffen slightly, remembering what King said earlier. A shudder traveled up my spine, but the other's didn't seem to notice. 

Gus continued to make his little illusions, banishing them almost as quickly as he was summoning them. Willow and I watched in awe while we chatted about any random topic we could think of, Gus adding in his input whenever he wasn't casting a spell. 

"Have you been able to catch up with everybody?" Willow asked me, leaning on the arm of the couch. 

"Eh." I dragged out, doing the half and half symbol with my hand. "Kinda?" Willow raised an eyebrow, trying to get me to elaborate. "I mean like, I haven't talked to them yet, but I was able to see them. Does that make sense?" My friends nodded.

"So who haven't you been able to talk to yet?" Shrugging, I popped my fingers just so that I'd be doing something with my hands. 

"Just Amity and her siblings, and I guess Boscha." I muttered, more memories of last night flooding my mind. I tried to force down the blush that was slowly creeping up to my cheeks with little succession. 

Gus side eyed me, a small smirk appearing on his lips. However, he didn't say anything and just summoned another beast, this on a little larger than the rest. I focused on the illusion he summoned, my eyes widening in awe. The illusion let out a tiny growl, then disappeared. 

"Don't wear yourself out Gus." Willow muttered, leaning forward to glance at the creatures in the book. Gus banished his new illusion, a low chuckle coming from his throat. 

"I doubt summoning these tiny illusions are gonna wear me out Willow." Gus said, flipping through the pages of the book again. Willow stuck her hand in the book, pointing to one of the creatures. Gus eyed it over for a moment, then summoned a tiny version of the creature. 

"Still, just be careful." She murmured, adjusting her glasses. One of their scrolls suddenly went off with a little ping, both of them pulled out their scrolls to check. 

Willow's eyes lit up behind her glasses, a soft chuckle pushing past her lips as she started to type away on her scroll. "Who ya messaging?" I asked in a sly tone, watching as a light blush appeared on her cheeks. She shook her head a few times, then put her scroll face down on her lap. 

"Boscha." Willow responded with a smile, her blush deepening slightly. Her scroll pinged again, making her jump before she looked it over again. While Willow got sucked into her own little world with her girlfriend, I watched Gus create more illusions. 

"So, what's Boscha doing?" I asked Willow after a bit of time, still focusing on Gus' magic. Turning to Willow, I saw her shrug. 

"Dunno." She said, placing her scroll down and pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "She said she's bored though. I asked her why, but I haven't gotten an answer yet." I made a little oh sound, then stretched, leaning back on the couch and looking up at the ceiling. By now, Gus had stopped making his illusions and was just reading through the book of creatures. 

Her scroll pinged again, recapturing her attention. I watched as her eyes quickly flitted across the screen as she read the message, her eyes slowly widening. "Something the matter?" I asked, the concern in my voice was subtle. Willow shook her head, a smile slowly growing on her lips. 

"Nothing's the matter!" Willow quipped, Gus turned towards her, raising an eyebrow. 

"So what did Boscha say?" I asked, watching as her smile grew even larger. 

"She said that her and the band were waiting on band auditions." She chirped, making the two of us perk up. 

"Band auditions?" Gus and I asked in unison, both of us clearly wondering what she meant. 

"Yeah!"

"Band auditions for what?" Gus asked, Willow shot him a look, but I couldn't tell what it meant. 

"Apparently, they're looking for a new drummer." That made me sit up. The band was looking for a drummer?

"Looking for a new drummer? What happened to Edric?" I asked, the questions tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them. Willow just shrugged.

"Nothing happened to him. Apparently, he's bored of being drummer. So, they're finding a replacement." She said, glancing back down at her scroll for a second before looking back up. I blinked a few times, taking in the answer and letting it process. 

"He's just bored?" Gus muttered, asking exactly what I was thinking. Willow nodded, her scroll pinging again. I sat there tense, a bunch of questions flying through my mind, and none of them getting answers.

A thought came to mind, and even though I tried to shake it away, it stayed. It stood loud and clear among all the questions, the seven words looming over me. 

I could audition to be their drummer.

"Luz? You still there?" Gus waved his hand in front of my face, making me jerk in surprise. I quickly nodded, making Gus raise an eyebrow before looking back down to his book. "So what's on your mind?" He asked, flipping a few pages. 

My throat felt tight, and as I waved my hands around trying to find the words to say, Willow cut in. "Are you thinking about auditioning?" The excitement in her voice was clear, and even though a flood of words wanted to come out, I could only squeak and nod. 

Willow squealed, Gus just smirked. "It's honestly convenient..." I muttered in a high tone, finally finding my voice.

"What is?" The grey blue haired witch asked me, bouncing up and down slightly. I shrugged and leaned back onto the couch, still tense. 

"I mean, it's convenient that I can drum and they're looking for a drummer. And it's also pretty convenient because of my new blooming love for the band." I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"You mean, it's convenient they're looking for a drummer because of your blooming love for Amity." Gus said without missing a beat, making Willow's head snap up to look at the two of us.

I immediately sat up with a wheeze, my eyes wide and a burning blush instantly finding its way to my cheeks. "Wait what?!" Willow shouted, her eyes filled with stars behind her large glasses. I pulled my beanie over my face to hide it, knowing it was a dark red. 

Willow grabbed me by my shoulders and started to shake me, which only made me try to shrink away. "I don't know what you're talking about!" I squeaked behind my beanie, hoping that I was able to deny it. 

Gus scoffed, flipping another page of his book. "Hey, you said it yourself at the concert last night." I quickly pulled my beanie off my face, noticing not only how excited Willow was, but also seeing that Gus hadn't even looked up from his book. 

"What?!" I hissed, watching the corner of Gus' mouth tug upwards. "I didn't say anything like that!" Willow's grip on my shoulder tightened slightly as Gus chuckled. He closed his book and turned to face the two of us, his eyebrows raising slightly when he saw how red I was. 

"You're right, you didn't say that." He tapped a finger to his chin, looking like he was deep in thought. "In fact, I'm pretty sure you said, and I quote, I just found out my crush is the lead singer in a band." My eyes widened even more, he heard me last night. "Does that sound right?" He asked, a smirk plastered on his face. 

A loud groan escaped me as I leaned onto the arm of the couch, pulling my beanie over my face again. "I didn't think you heard me!" I managed to say, my voice high. 

"So you do have a crush on Amity!" Willow shouted, making me yank my beanie back up and place a hand over her mouth. 

"Not so loud!" I hissed, glancing around. Another laugh came from Gus, making me take my hand off of Willow and look over at him. 

"Luz, no one else is here." He laughed, which only made me groan. "It's not like Amity would be able to hear you here anyways." 

"It's not Amity I'm worried about!" I said, eyeing the door. "It's Hooty. If he heard, he'd just start yelling it out to anybody." Hooty suddenly swung open, slamming against the wall and making the three of us jump. 

"I heard my name!" He yelled with a hoot, eyeing the three of us. "What are you guys talking about?" 

"Just talking about how you're a great door!" I said back with a smile, a nervous laugh following after it. Hooty's eyes lit up as an excited hoot escaped his beak. 

"You really think that?" I nodded, a nervous grin plastered on my face as I hoped he wasn't listening to the rest of our conversation. "Yay! I'm a great door!" He swung shut, repeating his phrase to himself outside. I breathed a sigh of relief, slouching down and hiding my face in my hands. 

"Oh gracias a dios que funcionó." I murmured, lifting my head up to look at my friends. They both stared at me with big smiles on their faces. "Okay fine!" I threw my hands up in the air and leaned back on the couch. "I do have a crush on Amity." 

"I knew it." Willow said in a low voice, pumping her fist in the air. Gus just shook his head with a smile, lightly punching my arm. I felt Willow grab my shoulder and turn me to face her. "Now, you need to go audition! You'd be able to see her again too!"

I waved my hands in front of me, shaking my head. "No no no, no way! I'm not even good!" Willow rolled her eyes, giving me a firm shake. 

"You won't know until you try." She said, her lips tugged up into a soft smile. I shook my head, putting my hands on her shoulders. 

"Oh I've tried, and I know." I said, my eyebrows furrowing together. 

"But what if they think you're good?" Gus asked, making me freeze up slightly. I thought it over, different scenarios quickly playing in my head like some slideshow. Willow and Gus eyed each other, then nervously laughed. 

"Are you okay?" Willow asked, and I nodded my head. I tapped my chin, still thinking it over. They could think I'm good, and if they did, that gave me the chance to be on their band. Not only that, but it'd give me a chance to be with all my other friends again, it'd give me a chance to be with Amity again. 

"And besides," Gus shrugged his shoulders. "even if you don't get in the band, you'll still be able to catch up with everyone." Willow nodded, shooting me a lopsided grin. 

"I'd be able to talk to Amity again." I thought to myself, my eyebrows tightly furrowed together. Willow and Gus looked at each other again, and Willow let out a nervous laugh. 

"Gus, are you sure you didn't break her?" I barely heard her say because I was so deep in thought, Gus simply shrugged his shoulders. "Luz, are you sure you're okay?" I blinked a few times, pulling myself out of my head. 

Taking a deep breath, I clasped my hands together. "Okay..." My friends stared at me, waiting to see what I'd say. "Okay, I'll audition." Willow jumped up in excitement, pulling me into a tight hug. She grabbed Gus and pulled him into the hug as well. 

"You're gonna do great." Willow said with confidence, making me smile. The three of us pulled away, Willow pulled out her scroll and started typing away. "I'll ask Boscha the directions on how to get there for you."

I stood up off the couch, walking over towards the stairs. "I'll be back." I told the two of them, slowly going up the stairs. My head was still swamped with my thoughts, making me more and more nervous. 

What if they don't like me anymore? What if I somehow make them mad? What if they wanted nothing to do with me because I left? What if I made a fool of myself in front of them?

"Wait a minute, when did that ever matter?" I asked aloud. Back before I left, I didn't care if I made a fool of myself, whether it was on purpose or not. I groaned, facepalming because I was just overthinking everything. 

Pushing open the door to my room, I took a deep breath and went over to my bag. It was still open from earlier, so I bent down and started to sift through my things. "Let's see, clothes, poster, books, more clothes, aha! Here they are!" 

I pulled my drumsticks out of my bag, closing the flap over the top but not bothering to zip it up. My thumb ran over the base of one of the sticks, a small smile on my face. Rolling over the sticks a little, I found the one I had carved my name into. 

My name was written in jagged lines, a few stars surrounding it. I'd carved my name into it a little after I first got them, but I don't remember why I did it. Probably because I was bored.

Standing back up, I tightly clutched my sticks in my hand, then made my way back downstairs. Willow and Gus were chatting, but they quieted down when they saw me. "You ready to go?" Willow asked, flashing me a bright smile. I nodded, shooting her a smile back. 

"Great! Boscha sent me the directions, Gus and I can take you about halfway there before we've got to go." I nodded and messed with my jacket with my free hand, trying to mask my nervousness. 

"Where are you guys going?" I asked, making my way over to the door and pulling it open. Noticing how I didn't hear anything from Hooty, I looked over at him. Hooty was fast asleep, his tongue barely hanging out of his beak. 

I quickly shushed my friends and quietly snuck them out the door, hoping to get past the door owl without waking him. Even though I loved the guy to bits, I wasn't in the mood for a conversation. Carefully closing the door, the three of us quickly started to speed walk away. 

"I'm glad we didn't wake him up." Willow muttered, Gus nodding in agreement. "But, to answer your question earlier, I need to go find a few plants in the forest, and I'm dragging Gus along to help me." She jabbed her thumb over at Gus, who perked up slightly. 

He looked like he was going to say something, hesitating for a moment, then said nothing at all. I raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. 

The three of us struck up a conversation while we walked, all of us joking around with one another. Our laughs echoed in the sky, easing my nerves. We walked on the outskirts of the market, the bustle of the people inside leaking out into the air. 

We eventually made it towards where the market ended, Willow grabbed my arm. "This is where we've gotta leave." My nerves spiked back up, but I just nodded. "You see the concert stadium over there?" Willow pointed towards the west, and in between the trees I could see bits and pieces of the stadium. 

I nodded. "You'll just need to walk straight that way." She pointed in the opposite direction of the stadium, I nodded again. Gus patted my back, shooting me a smile. 

"You'll be amazing." He said, making me smile. I pulled the two of them into a quick hug, making them tense up slightly before hugging me back. 

"Good luck." Willow said, her voice barely able to contain her excitement. I let go of the two of them and chuckled, popping the collar of my jacket. 

"Who said I need luck? I've got this." The two of them smiled, then said goodbye. 

I gave them both a quick salute goodbye, promising them that I'd tell them how it went the next time we met up. Then, I slowly started to walk towards where Willow told me to go. 

It was a pretty clear pathway, not wide enough for a cart, but at least wide enough for two people to walk side by side. 

"What am I even going to say when I get there?" I muttered, tightly clutching onto my sticks. "Hey guys! I know you haven't seen me in two years, but now I'm back and I came to audition to be your drummer!" I said in a fake tone, a low groan following directly after. 

"That's just stupid... but what else do I say?" I questioned, my nervousness starting to bubble up. Taking a deep breath, I loosened my grip on my sticks a little. I stood in the middle of the pathway for a moment. "I've got to think of something to say before I get there..." I murmured, placing a hand to my chin. 

A few ideas came to mind, but they didn't sound good enough."You know what..." I said after some time, my eyes widening slightly. "I'll just say that I came by to say hi to everyone, and mention that I want to audition... yeah, yeah! That's what I'll say!" 

With a small bounce in my step, I continued on the trail, ignoring how nervous I felt so I wouldn't turn around. "You can do this Luz." I muttered to myself, staring straight ahead. "You're just going to say hi to old friends... and your crush." I froze up when I saw the studio come into view. 

Taking in another deep breath, I steeled myself for the encounter and pushed forward. My legs felt numb and my hands were lightly shaking, but I was determined. I needed to talk to them again, all of them. 

Before I knew it, I was at the studio door. Holding my breath, I raised my fist up to knock on the door, but when my hand was about an inch away, I froze. "What am I gonna say when she answers the door?" 

My eyes widened when I realized I didn't know what I was going to say. "What if I..." I leaned against the door frame, looking down before looking back up. "Hey Amity~" I finger gunned, then shook my head. 

"No, too flirty." I stopped leaning on the door, then turned around. "Heya Amity!" I spun back around to face the door, a smile on my face as I did finger guns again. I blinked a few times, then shook my head. 

"Nope, knowing my luck I'd trip over my own feet and faceplant." I muttered, wracking my brain for another way to greet her. I placed a finger gun under my chin and put on my signature smirk. 

"Hola Amity~" My smirk dropped. "Did I? I didn't... she's not gonna know what that means..." I let out a sigh of frustration. "Why is this so hard?" I slumped over, jabbing myself in the gut with my drumsticks on accident. 

I sucked in a breath out of pain, lightly rubbing where I accidentally jabbed myself. Then, straightening out, I closed my eyes and quickly brought my fist up to the door, roughly knocking on it three times. 

I put my arms behind my back, tightly clasping them together. A tight smile was stuck on my face, but my eyes darted left and right out of nervousness. "Just don't pull a blank and you'll be fine." I thought, my nails digging lightly into my arm

The door's lock shifted and it slowly started to open. 

I pulled a blank.

It was almost like the door took away my ability to breathe, but it didn't last long. The door opened, and instead of Amity, there was Mattholomule. 

"We've already told you," He started, clearly annoyed. "we don't want any of your-" He finally got a good look at me, blinking a few times before he scowled. "Oh, it's you. The human." His ears went down as he glared at me. 

The venom in his voice was clear. "Hey there uh, Matt?" I questioned, hoping I was right. My brain was going into overdrive, trying to save itself before he asked a question. 

"It's Mattholomule to you." He hissed, clearly not wanting to talk to me. His arms folded across his chest as he squinted his eyes at me, eyeing me up and down with a chuckle. "What are you even doing here?" 

"Oh, uh..." I struggled to find words for a moment. "I came to audition." I managed to say, a little louder than I had intended. Matt snorted, then broke out in a full fit of laughter, his ears flicking back up as he placed his hands on his knees, struggling to breathe. 

"You?" He choked out, laughing even harder. "No way! You've got to be joking!" Matt continued to laugh, and I slouched down slightly. After a few more seconds of him laughing, he stood up straight, taking a deep breath. 

"Human, it isn't gonna happen." Matt's tone suddenly got serious and his ears went back down. The brown haired witch took a step closer to me. "I'll make sure of it." He growled, poking a finger in my chest. 

"Matty? Who are you talking to?" A voice called out, then a familiar head of green hair popped out behind the door frame. Edric looked down at Matt, then up at me. His golden eyes widened. "It's... it's..." He couldn't seem to finish his sentence as a giant, dopey smile appeared on his face. 

Mattholomule glared at Edric, but before he could say anything to him, another voice piped up. "Why are you two just standing... here... cutie?" Emira appeared by her brother's side, her expression copying his. 

They both took one of Matt's shoulders and pulled him back into the studio. "You're back!" They shouted in unison, grabbing onto my jacket and pulling me inside. The twins pulled me into a tight bear hug, their voices overlapping one another as they tried to ask me questions. 

"Good to see you guys too!" I managed to get out as they strangled me with their hug. The two of them let go of me, both of their faces lit up with bright smiles. 

"It's been forever! What gave you the idea to drop by?" Emira asked, her eyes twinkling in the light. My hand squeezed my drumsticks, reminding me the whole reason why I came here in the first place. 

"Oh! Well I mean, you guys are my friends. I thought I would stop by and say hi." I could hear Matt scoff and I saw him turn on his heel and walk around the corner, leaving me with the Blights. "And, I heard you guys were holding auditions so... I came to try out?" 

I mentally kicked myself. I needed to sound confident, but here I was, making it sound like a question. However, the twins either didn't notice or didn't care, because they both gasped in surprise.

"You're here to try out? Oh boy, ain't Mittens gonna love that?" Edric said as he turned to his sister, who nodded in response. "In fact, she's really gonna love the fact that you're back in general!" He exclaimed, throwing an arm over my shoulder and pulling me close to him. I could smell his cologne, it was like a mix of vanilla and pine needles, and it wasn't super strong, in fact it was really subtle. 

The two of them started to lead me forward, taking me to what I assumed was the main room of the studio. "Speaking of Mit- I mean, Amity, where is she?" I looked around the room, spotting Matt on a dark purple bean bag chair. 

"Ah don't worry, she'll be back soon." Emira cooed, dashing over to another bean bag and flopping down into it. "She's just out with Boscha in the market right now. They left about a half hour ago." 

"Yeah, little ol' Mittens got bored." Edric said, taking a seat on the table that wasn't too far away from the bean bags. I took a seat on a chair that was close to Emira, crossing my right leg over my left. "So, she's left us in charge of the auditions!" 

"And how's that been?" I asked, which made Edric roll his eyes.

"Boring." He said, his voice suddenly sounding super monotone. "But! Because of it being super slow, we've been able to mess around." Matt groaned, then stood up and walked over to another room. 

"I swear to the gods, if you put another water bucket in the sound room..." He trailed off, the twins snickering the entire time. Matt closed the door behind him and the twins busted out in laughter. 

I looked between the two of them, wondering why they were laughing. "How long is it going to take him to realize that nothing's there?" Emira asked, making Edric laugh even harder. 

"Better question is..." The other twin started, taking a moment to catch his breath. "how long is it going to take him to find the graffiti on his door?" Both the twins continued to laugh, but I just sat there. 

Matt stepped out of the room and looked around, furrowing his brows when he saw how hard the twins were laughing. He glared at all of us, then walked back over to us. "First the human shows back up then you two..." Edric grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around to face him. 

"First off." Edric started, the smile that was just on his face disappearing almost instantly. "That human," His head tilted slightly in my direction. "has a name, and it's Luz. Be glad Mittens didn't hear you say that, cause she would've hit you."

I blinked a few times when he said that. Amity actually cared if people used my name? That was, a little surprising to say the least. I mean, we were friends before I left, but she didn't really seem to care when the others referred to me as "The Human" 

"Secondly." Emira picked up where Edric left off. "Be glad you aren't Mittens in general, we mess with her a whole lot worse." The twins looked at each other with a sly smile, then looked back at Matt. Edric let go of his shoulder and Matt went back to his bean bag and sat down in it, pulling out his scroll while muttering under his breath. 

Edric rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to me. "So, how was it back on Earth?" He asked, his smile returning to his face. I just shrugged. 

"It wasn't too different from when I left, people still thought I was weird and didn't really hang out with me, but I didn't really care. I mean, I have you guys here." Emira placed a hand over her heart while Edric just rolled his eyes. "And besides, it's not like I have to worry about that anymore anyways." 

"And why's that?" Emira asked, leaning over so that she was closer to me. I chuckled slightly. 

"Because..." I dragged out, placing a finger gun under my chin. "I get to stay here in the Boiling Isles." Both the Blight twins sat up straight, their eyes wide. Matt froze, looking up from his scroll and at me in disbelief. 

"You're... staying?" They all said in almost perfect unison, blinking a few times. I nodded, the twins looking back at each other, then back to me. Matt's eyes widened, then his brows furrowed tightly together as a low string of words that I couldn't understand flowed from his lips. Emira quickly elbowed him in the side, making him shut up. 

"That's fantastic!" Edric exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "No, it's better than that!" I chuckled slightly, glad that they were excited I was staying rather than hating it. "When Mittens hears that news she might short circuit." Edric joked, earning a laugh from his sister. 

"Oh really?" I murmured, watching both the twins nod. 

"Yes really, honestly she's kinda crazy when it comes to you, since you're..." Emira shot Edric a glare, making the witch trail off for a moment. "Since you're her friend." He picked back up, giving me a lopsided smile. Emira rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing her brother's shoulder. 

"Ed, come help me real quick." She muttered, Edric nodding in response. Then, she looked over her shoulder and gave me a bright smile. "We'll be right back cutie!" She winked, making a small blush rise up to my cheeks. 

The twins walked off and turned around a corner, leaving me with Matt. "So, Mattholomule..." I started, hoping to break some of the silence. Matt groaned, not bothering to look over at me. "What do you do in the band?" 

"I'm the sound director." He said coldly, his voice still holding the venom from earlier. 

"Oh, that's pretty cool!" I commented, which only made him roll his eyes. 

"Listen Luz." He said my name like it was poison on his lips, making a shiver travel down my spine. Matt stood up and moved in front of me, his eyes filled with hatred. "I don't want to do any of this small talk. I just want you out of here as fast as possible." 

Matt took another step closer, placing a hand on my shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze. His lips turned up into this sickening smile and I could feel his nails digging into my skin. "So you should leave, after all, do you really think they want a human here?" My breath hitched in my throat. Matt opened his mouth to continue, but before he could say anything else his ears perked up when he heard the twins chatter come from around the corner. 

He quickly let go of me and walked over in their direction, purposely shoving them as he went around the corner. I brought my hand up to my shoulder and gave it a rub, rolling my shoulder a little to ease it. The twins looked back at him, then over at me. 

"Gods what's his problem?" Edric asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "You good?" I gave them a quick nod, bringing my hand back down to my lap. He just shrugged and sat back down on the table, Emira moving back to her seat and sitting down. 

"So~" Emira started, a sly smirk on her face. "Not only are you here to stay, but you're here to audition? When did you ever get into drumming?" 

"I got into it a little after I left the Boiling Isles. It was originally going to be just something to pass the time, but it eventually became more than that." I laughed, the twins nodding in response. 

Edric suddenly perked up, then he quickly patted down his pockets. "Actually, speaking of the auditions, I should give Mittens a call, let her know you're here." He finally found his scroll and pulled it out. 

"Wait!" He froze up, looking up at me with an eyebrow raised. "Don't tell her that it's me, I want it to be a surprise." The green haired witch gave me a sly smile, then nodded his head. 

"Alrighty then!" He tapped a few buttons on his scroll, then held it up to his ear, waiting for Amity to pick up. Edric lightly swayed around for a moment while he waited, then sighed in annoyance. "Man, Mittens ignoring her older brother, what's new there?" 

Emira chuckled, leaning back on her bean bag. "So just call Boscha then. She'll definitely pick up." She said as she waved her hand in small circles. Edric nodded, then pressed a few buttons on his scroll before bringing it back up to his ear. 

Edric's face lit up when Boscha answered almost immediately. "Hey Boscha! How's my favorite bassist?" His eyes moved around the room for a moment, then his face dropped into a deadpan look. "Okay okay fine, you're the only bassist I know"

I couldn't help but chuckle, watching as the twin rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah whatever. Anyways, you guys need to hurry up and get back." He paused briefly, then his brows furrowed together. "No, we didn't do anything to Matt. Do you really think we'd call you if we did?" 

Now Emira started to laugh, lightly nudging me. "No Boscha, we wouldn't call you guys. We'd just hide the body and say he was eaten by a ryewolf and leave it at that. But that's besides the point, we've got someone here to audition." I felt my shoulders relax a little when he didn't say my name. 

"Yeah, I already tried to call Mittens but she's ignoring me." The Blight twin started to pop his fingers on his free hand, nodding to whatever Boscha was saying on the other end. "No, we haven't heard them playing yet, we thought we'd wait for Mittens to get here." 

He leaned back, using his hand to support his weight as he looked up at the ceiling. "Oh believe me, she'll love this one. So tell Mittens to hurry back and stop ignoring me!" Even from where I was at, I could faintly hear Boscha laughing on the other end. 

Their call ended and Edric laughed. "Welp, now we wait!" 

"How long until they're back?" I asked, rolling my drumsticks in my hands. The green haired witch shrugged.

"They'll be here soon." Edric said, stretching out before lying down on the table. "I mean, Boscha said they were about ten minutes away, but based on the way Boscha sounded, it might take even less time than that." 

"Wait, how did she sound?" His twin asked, raising an eyebrow at her brother. Edric sat back up, looking down at his sister. 

"She sounded super excited, so she's probably gonna be dragging Mittens over in record time." I raised an eyebrow, then realized that she probably knew it was me because Willow had asked her for directions earlier. 

I silently hoped she wouldn't say anything to Amity about who I was, hoping I was able to keep my arrival a surprise for a little longer. Matt returned from around the corner, and from the looks of it he was beyond angry. 

"You two!" He roared, making both the twins tense up before turning towards him. "What did you do to my door?" The Blights looked at one another, then back at him before shrugging. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Edric stated, his voice raising an octave. 

"Yeah." Emira chirped, placing a hand behind her back. I watched as she drew a small spell circle, and once it was completed, she brought her hand back forward to not seem suspicious. "You're just going batty Matty." She quipped, which made Matt go red in the face. 

"I am not!" He hissed, going over to the two and grabbing them by their shirts and dragging them out of their chairs and around the corner where I assumed his room was. There was silence for a moment. "What?!" I jumped when I heard Matt scream. 

The twins slowly walked out from around the corner, both of their eyes wide. "Did you...?" Edric's voice was shaky as he motioned to his sister. Emira said nothing, but nodded her head in response. "Oh thank gods." Edric muttered, relief instantly filling his voice. 

"One of these days, he's gonna rip our throats out." Emira said, rubbing her neck nervously. Edric froze up, then started to laugh. 

"Em, he's not gonna do that because he can't reach that high." He said between laughs, which made me struggle to suppress a snort before I broke out into laughter. 

Matt came back around the corner, smoke practically blowing out of his ears. He eyed the twins, then used both of his hands to flip them off before walking to the studio's front door. Throwing the door open and letting it smack the wall with enough force to shake the frame, he stomped out and slammed the door shut behind him. 

The three of us sat in silence, staring at the door for a moment. "Does he do that often?" I finally asked, the twins nodding in response. 

"We should probably put something behind the door so he won't put a hole in the wall." Emira muttered, leaning against the table as she folded her arms across her chest. 

Eventually the twins and I struck up a conversation so that we wouldn't be sitting in an awkward silence while we waited for Amity and Boscha to arrive. "And I've got to say, your guy's concert last night was amazing!" I noticed how their eyes widened, then a smirk slowly appeared on both of their faces. 

"You managed to see the show last night?" Emira asked, a hint of shock in her voice. I gave an enthusiastic nod, which only made Emira lightly shake her head. "I'm surprised you didn't try to meet up with us sooner." 

"Well I was going to..." I started, glancing down to the floor. "But, nobody told me where I'd be able to find you guys, and I didn't know you guys were the Abominations until the last second." 

The studio door suddenly creaked open, a familiar voice calling out to us. "Guys? We're back!" Boscha called, carrying a bag in her hand. Emira jumped up and pulled me out of my seat, quickly pushing me around the corner so I wouldn't be seen. 

"Stay here for a minute." She told me with a smile, I silently nodded. Emira gave me a thumbs up, then went back around to where the others were, standing by Edric at the table. 

I barely peered around the corner, just enough so that I would see the twins. "Welcome back." Edric said, folding his arms over his chest. He got up off the table and moved out of my line of sight, doing something that made someone groan. 

Boscha walked over to the table, setting her bag down before looking over at Emira. The pink haired witch mouthed something to the Blight, which Emira responded by subtly nodding over her shoulder in my direction. 

The pink haired witch looked in my direction, her three eyes widening as a giant grin appeared on her lips. She sent me a little wave, and I gave her a toothy smile and a wave back. 

"How many times have I told you not to do that?" A voice growled, one that I instantly recognized. My heart started pounding, a squeal of excitement rising up in my throat that I forced myself to swallow down. I couldn't give myself away yet. 

"Sorry Mittens, couldn't resist." Edric said with a snort, still standing out of my line of sight. "What did you guys get from the market anyways?" 

"That's not important." Amity said sharply, now moving into my line of sight with her back facing me. My breathing hitched, my hands suddenly getting shaky. This was it, I was going to talk to Amity again."You said someone was here to audition?" 

Emira slowly turned around, first looking down at Amity, then up at me. She shot me a look, signaling me to step out. I swallowed, then slowly stepped out from around the corner. Amity placed a hand on her hip, lightly tapping her foot. 

"Well? Where are they?" She asked, annoyance laced in her voice. I saw Emira wiggle her eyebrows at Amity, Edric struggling to bite back a laugh, and Boscha staring at me with a knowing smile. 

I hesitated for a moment, then loudly cleared my throat to get her attention. I saw her ears twitch, then she slowly turned around. Her face went from a look of annoyance to a look of shock, then disbelief. 

Her hands went up to her chest, slowly clenching themselves into fists. "Hey Amity!" I said, my voice wavering slightly. She eyed me up and down, her eyes darting across all my features.

Then, she took a small step forward, slowly reaching her hand out. "Luz?" She stammered out in a small voice, her voice thick with emotion. "Is that really you?" Amity took another small step forward, tears gathering in her eyes. 

Looking down at myself, then back up to the witch, I gave her a lopsided smile. "Pretty sure it's really me." I said, a soft chuckle following afterwards.

Amity took another small step forward, then with no warning, she barreled towards me as fast as she could, her ears flapping with excitement. She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me into a tight hug, laughing the entire time. 

I stumbled slightly, then fell over, taking the two of us down to the ground. We both landed on the ground with a loud thud, Amity landing on top of me. My drumsticks loudly clattered to the ground as they fell out of my hand. 

Her face was only a few inches from mine, making my face flare up with a red blush. She blinked a few times, looked at the position we were in, then quickly got off of me with a squeak. "Sorry!" 

She stood up, holding out her hand for me to take so she could help me up, which I did. Once she brought me to my feet, she pulled me into another tight hug, making me laugh. 

"You're finally back!" Amity said, still laughing as she pulled away from me, her face practically beaming. The blush on my face still hadn't died down, and I assumed it wasn't going to anytime soon if she kept acting like this. "Gods, and I never thought I'd be able to see you again!" 

"Hey, I'm sorry it took me this long to show up." I said softly, tearing my eyes away from her's for a moment. I noticed her ears were still flapping softly, which only made me gasp. "Wait a minute, your ears flap when you're excited?" I exclaimed, which made Amity's face go red. 

"What?" She instantly clasped her hands over her ears to get them to stop, her face flushing a bright red color. "No they don't!" She hissed out of embarrassment, quickly turning away from me. 

"Yes they do! Oh my god, did you hide it all this time?" I asked as I remembered all the times Amity was excited in the past, making Amity squeak again. My heart felt like it was about to explode with how cute she was being. Edric cleared his throat, gaining our attention. 

"Wow Mittens, I'm surprised you didn't try to tackle her the minute you saw her." He said with a smirk, making Amity scowl. 

"Hey, I first thought you guys were making an illusion of Luz to trick me." She growled, earning an offended gasp from the twins. 

"You really think we'd be that cruel Mittens?" Emira asked, biting her lip so that she wouldn't laugh. 

"I don't think you would be, I know you would be." Amity hissed, taking her hands away from her ears as she folded her arms over her chest. I could still see her ears faintly flapping, but then they stopped. The twins just stuck their tongues out at their younger sister. 

Placing a hand on Amity's shoulder, I took her attention off of the twins. She smiled, her eyes filled with happiness. "It's great to see you again Amity, I've missed you." I said, which made her smile. 

Then, I pulled her into another hug, feeling her freeze up in surprise for a moment before she melted into the hug. "I've missed you too..." Her voice held this tone that I couldn't pick up even though it sounded really familiar, her arms wrapping around my back as she held onto me tightly.

"Oh! And another thing!" I pulled away from the witch, watching as she raised an eyebrow at me. "Your guy's show last night was amazing!" Her expression changed into one of shock, her eyes going wide. 

"You... you were there last night?" She squeaked out, which I chuckled and nodded. Her head snapped back to look at Boscha, who held her hands out defensively. "You knew she was there, didn't you?" Amity rushed over to the other witch and grabbed the collar of her shirt. The other witch only started to laugh. 

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." The pink hair witch managed to get out, leaving Amity to just sigh and let go of her. 

"That's why you didn't think I was crazy." I could hear Amity mumble, Boscha nodding in response. 

"Alright look." Emira finally said, leaning onto the table. "As much as I love watching Mittens short circuit cause Luz is back," Amity stiffed slightly, glaring at her sister. "why don't we let her try to audition before we continue with this reunion, shall we?"

I nodded, picking my drumsticks up off the floor. When I stood back up, I noticed the blush that dusted Amity's cheeks as she quietly hissed something to both of her siblings. "You ready?" Boscha asked as she walked over to me and leaned on my shoulder. 

I gave her a short nod, my hands clasped tight around my drumsticks as I felt the adrenaline pumping in my veins. This was it, now was the time to see if I was good enough to get on their band.

"I'm ready."


	6. The audition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important note, but I've just gotta say, it should not be as hard as it was to write an audition lmao

Luz POV:

Amity was still saying something to her siblings, the blush on her face slowly getting darker and her ears pinned down. "It's not funny!" She hissed, her hands clenched in tight fists while the twins struggled to stifle their laughs. 

"You're right Mittens, it's hilarious." Emira snorted, nudging her brother a few times. "Honestly, you're lucky I stopped Edric before he slipped up and said something."

The youngest Blight immediately turned her attention to her brother, shooting him a terrifying death glare. Edric held his hands out defensively, a nervous smile plastered on his face. "Hey relax! I didn't say anything!"

"But you almost did!" Amity punched Edric's arm, her voice going a higher pitch. "And I would've hung your head over the mantle if you had!" The twin's eyes widened, a low, nervous chuckle escaping him. 

I listened in on their conversation, silently wondering to myself what Amity was talking about. Then, I was startled when I felt a hand lightly push me forward, and looking behind me, I was met with the three eyed witch. 

"Nervous?" She asked me with a smirk. I looked down at my drumsticks, giving them a light squeeze, the adrenaline still flowing through my veins.

"Maybe a little..." I admitted, letting out a shaky sigh. Boscha laughed, placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at the witch, noticing how only two of her three eyes were looking at me. Her third eye stared behind me, which I assumed she was looking at the Blight siblings. 

"Don't be. You'll be fine." Boscha said, now all three of her eyes focusing onto me as she gave me a comforting smile. She then gave me a slap on the back, making me wince. "Besides, when did Luz Noceda get nervous? It's just an audition after all." 

"It's not just the audition I'm nervous about..." I mumbled, turning my gaze to the Blights, specifically Amity. Boscha followed my gaze as she folded her arms over her chest. 

The siblings were still bickering, but now it looked like the twins were just poking fun at their younger sister rather than Amity chewing them out. Boscha stepped forward, softly shaking her head. 

Then, Boscha loudly cleared her throat, gaining their attention. "Can we move on to the audition now? You guys can continue your little spiel later." Amity furrowed her brows, sticking her tongue out at her siblings before rolling her eyes and walking away. 

Edric moving away from the table and stretched, then he perked up and made his way over to the sound room. "I'll get my drums out here for ya!" He said to me with a wink, shooting finger guns at me. 

He disappeared into the room, leaving the door open. Emira pulled out her scroll, her eyes moving across its screen as she slowly took a seat in a chair by the table. Amity reappeared from wherever she disappeared to, her eyes meeting mine. 

She gave me an encouraging smile, her golden eyes lighting up. "Uh, guys?" Edric poked his head out of the sound room, the rest of his band members looking over at him with an eyebrow raised. "Where'd we put my drum set?" 

Boscha shrugged, walking over to a chair by Emira and taking a seat. His sisters looked at each other, then back to him, also shrugging. The twin sighed, an annoyed look on his face. 

I watched as he trudged by, mumbling things under his breath. The only thing I heard as he passed was "If he decided to move my drums..." before he went to the studio's front door and pulled it open, carefully closing it behind him. 

"Welp, it might be a minute till he comes back." Emira said shaking her head. "Especially if Matt moved his set to the spare storage." 

"Why would he move it there?" I asked, moving over by Amity and leaning against the wall. Amity looked away from me, her ears moving down slightly as a pale pink blush appeared on her cheeks. 

"Probably because he needed more room in the sound room." Emira commented, looking back down at her scroll. I simply nodded, looking down to my drumsticks. 

I ran my thumb over my name again, feeling a pair of eyes peering over at me. "What's that?" Amity asked, pointing to the carving. 

"Oh, it's just my name. Well, that and a few stars." I said with a chuckle. Amity nodded her head, lightly tracing over the jagged lines with her fingers. "It's like my little good luck charm!" I chirped. 

"How so?" Her golden eyes met mine, making my breathing hitch.

"Honestly, I don't know." I told her with a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck. "After I've carved it, luck started coming my way. Which honestly, I really need it." I hoped that Amity couldn't notice the blush that was slowly rising to my cheeks. 

Amity chuckled softly, which only made my cheeks turn an even darker shade of red. I could listen to that laugh forever. "You're still as klutzy as before, aren't you?" She asked, lightly punching my shoulder. I just nodded my head, afraid that if I tried to say anything, it'd only come out as a squeak. "Why am I not surprised?" 

Emira scroll pinged and after reading it over she sighed, hopping out of her seat and moving towards the studio door. "I swear, I'm going to walk in there and find his drums instantly."

"Em, you and I both know he's blind as a bat, he doesn't have his glasses." Amity turned to her sister, folding her arms over her chest. Emira rolled her eyes, opening the door. 

"But he should have his contacts in." The twin mumbled as she walked out the door, closing it behind her. 

"Edric needs glasses?" I turned towards the youngest Blight, watching as she nodded her head. 

"He's needed them for as long as I can remember. But, he never wears them." Amity sighed, shaking her head. She started to mutter something under her breath about how he really needs to wear them. 

"Couldn't you guys like... magically fix his eyesight?" I asked.

Amity nodded her head, looking back over at me. "I mean, yeah it's possible." She said, leaning against the wall. "However, there's a high chance of going blind because of it so Ed just sticks with the contacts and glasses." 

I watched as she eyed me up and down, another small smile appearing on her face. "What?" I asked as she reached for my jacket, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. 

"Nothing just... your outfit really suits you." She mumbled, her eyes meeting with mine. Then, her eyes traveled upward slightly, another chuckle escaping her. "But, your beanie's pretty crooked." 

She reached up, having to stretch slightly to reach my beanie. "You're taller than I remember." She muttered, which made me laugh. 

"I'm not that much taller." I said with a laugh. Last time I saw Amity, we were about the same height, now I was at least two inches taller than she was. She scrunched up her nose in irritation, rolling her eyes at me. 

Her hands moved down from my beanie, pausing in the air for a moment before she started to run her fingers through my hair. I could see her mouth something, but I had no idea what she said. 

Based on the way she looked, I assumed she was starting to zone out. "You good Amity?" I asked, my lips forming a lopsided grin. She slowly nodded her head, still running her fingers through my hair. 

"Your hair is really soft." She murmured, her eyes glazed over. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Boscha stand up, leaning over and raising an eyebrow. She walked over to the two of us, staring at Amity for a moment before laughing. 

Then, very slowly, she placed a hand on Amity's shoulder. Amity jumped at the contact, quickly pulling her hand away from me. She blinked a few times, then looked between me and Boscha, her cheeks going a bright red. 

Boscha only shrugged, walking back to her seat. "You zoned out." She stated, making Amity's eyes widen and her ears go down. Amity looked at me, panic rising in her eyes. 

"Sorry!" She quickly stammered, taking a step back. I could hear her mumbling under her breath, trying to hide her face with her hair. 

I laughed, making the youngest Blight perk up slightly. "You're fine Amity, I didn't mind." Her gaze hesitantly met mine and I gave her a warm smile. Her eyes widened before she looked away from me again, placing a hand on my chest and lightly pushing me back. 

"Stop doing that..." Amity muttered, making me laugh. 

"Stop doing what?" I asked in between chuckles. She scoffed and turned to me, giving me another light shove. 

"Being a dork." She said, half a smile forming on her lips before she started to laugh. I could feel my cheeks burning, the sound of her laugh was honestly intoxicating. 

However, her laugh was cut short when we heard Boscha laughing behind us. We both turned to face the three eyed witch, who had her scroll pointed at the two of us. "No keep going!" She said with a laugh. "This is fun to watch." 

Amity gasped and dashed over to the witch, trying to forcefully take the scroll out of her hands. "Delete the video!" Amity commanded the witch, but that only made Boscha laugh. 

"You're gonna have to fight me for it!" Boscha said, managing to shove Amity off of her long enough to jump out of her seat and dash around the corner, Amity following close behind. Then I could hear a door slam somewhere around the corner, quickly followed by Amity pounding on the door and yelling at Boscha to open it. 

And with that, I stood alone. I considered going around the corner to make sure Amity didn't kill Boscha, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do much. So instead, I walked over to the table and took a seat, lightly drumming my fingers on the wooden table. 

My mind started to wander while I waited for either the twins to come back or for Amity and Boscha to reappear from around the corner, both of them hopefully in one piece. I thought back to what Matt said to me earlier, this sinking feeling filling my chest. 

"Do you really think they'd want a human here?" His voice echoed in my head. I closed my eyes, trying to block out his voice. But, what if he was right? What if they didn't want me here?

I shook away the thought. No, they do want me here. They wouldn't have reacted the way they did if they didn't. They wouldn't pull me into a bear hug or stand up for me. Their voices wouldn't be filled with that much excitement and their ears wouldn't be flapping if they didn't want me here. 

"Yo Mittens! Open the door!" I heard Edric's muffled voice come from the other side of the door, promptly snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked around, realizing that Amity wasn't going to hear her brother, so I got up and opened the door for them. 

Edric and Emira stood at the door, both of them holding different pieces of Edric's drum set in their arms. "Oh, thanks Luz!" The twins carefully made their way into the room, setting the drums down on the ground by the bean bags.

The twins looked around, both of them raising an eyebrow. "Where's Mittens at?" Emira asked, placing down one of the cymbals. 

"Uh, she's around the corner." I motioned, the loud pounding on a door continuing. The twins looked over where I was pointing before looking back at me. 

"Doing what?" Emira asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. 

"Probably ripping Boscha's scroll out of her hands... with her hands attached." I told them with a nervous laugh, making the two of them sigh and shake their heads. 

Emira walked away from the two of us. "I'll go get them." She groaned, disappearing around the corner. Edric turned towards me, raising an eyebrow. 

"Can I ask why she's trying to get Boscha's scroll?" He questioned with a smile on his face. I just shrugged my shoulders, moving over to the cymbal that Emira placed down. 

The cymbal had sharp teeth that lined its rim, each of them almost evenly spaced out. It also had a small green eye at its top, staring blankly ahead. "Is this thing alive?" I asked Edric, lightly touching one of the teeth at the bottom. 

"No, at least it shouldn't be." Edric said, looking over at me with a smirk. I slowly pulled my hand away, hoping that it wouldn't try to bite my hand off in the process, which luckily it didn't. 

Edric continued to set up his drums, making sure each of dark grey, spider like stands were correctly in place. I stared at the stands, curiously wondering why they were designed the way they were. 

Then, from around the corner came Emira, floating both Boscha and Amity behind her. Amity looked irritated, her arms folded tightly across her chest, while Boscha looked grateful, bits of her hair sticking out in odd places. 

"Alright Mittens, no throttling Boscha." Emira said in annoyance, waving her hand and dropping the two of them to the floor in heaps. Boscha nervously laughed and scooted a bit away from Amity. 

Amity side eyed Boscha, making Boscha continue to laugh. "Sorry Amity, just thought you'd want a little keepsake." The youngest Blight rolled her eyes, slightly turning away from the other witch. 

"I can get enough of those before Luz leaves again on my own." She growled, making me tense up. It hit me that I hadn't said anything to Amity or Boscha that I was staying, which meant they were still convinced that our time was limited. 

"Oh right, I haven't told you yet." I said, gaining Amity's attention. She raised an eyebrow at me, the confusion in her eyes clear. "You won't have to worry about me leaving!" I quickly chirped. 

"What do you mean?" She spoke slowly, probably already connecting the pieces on her own. Boscha took this as her cue to pick herself up off the floor and move over towards Edric for protection. 

I shrugged, a stupid smile finding its way to my face. "I mean that I'm not leaving!" Amity stood up, her brows knitting tightly together as she slightly tilted her head to the left. Emira glanced over at her sister and sighed, shaking her head. 

"Sis, she means she's staying in the Boiling Isles." Amity whirled around to look at her sister, then back at me. "Geez, you'd think being the top student at Hexside would've given you some sleuth skills." 

Amity looked at me for conformation, her eyes wide with hope. With a smile, I gave her a quick nod, watching as her ears quickly started to flap again. She lightly shook her head, bringing her hands back up to her ears to get them to stop. 

She started to walk towards me, but her sister stopped her. "Before you tackle her again, let's get through the audition. Like I said, audition first, reunion later." Even though I could tell Amity wanted to disagree, she just nodded and took a seat. 

I looked behind me at Boscha and Edric, who were almost finished with setting up his drums. The two of them were whispering away to one another, pointing to a few of the stands.

Finally, the two of them stood up, Edric popping his back a few times with a sigh. "Alrighty, it's all set up. You ready?" He turned to me raising an eyebrow. I nodded, slowly bringing myself behind the drums and taking a seat. Boscha disappeared into the sound room, then returned back with her bass.

Glancing at the drums, I made sure to place my foot on the bass drum pedal, lightly putting pressure on it to make sure that it worked. "So how are we gonna do this?" I asked, struggling to mask the nervousness that was slowly rising in my voice. 

Amity stood up, picking some sort of book up off the table, then made her way over to me. She flipped the little book open, landing on a page and handing it to me. Looking it over, I realized it was the sheet music. 

"You're gonna look this over real fast, then whenever you're ready we'll start. It'll be like a performance, so Ed and Em are gonna keep track on how many times you mess up." 

The twins both grabbed a chair and pulled it in front of us, both of them shooting me a thumbs up. "And what are you two doing?" I asked, glancing between Boscha and Amity. 

"Like I said, it's gonna be like a performance." She gave me a light pat on the shoulder. "So, we're going to be doing our part while we listen to you." I nodded, my eyes quickly scanning over the sheet music. 

"How many songs do you guys want me to do?" I questioned, not looking up from the sheet music. 

"I think only one, but then again, it all depends on what Mittens wants." Edric leaned back on his chair, making sure not to tip past the point of no return. I slowly nodded my head, flipping the page and continued to read. 

Based on what I was reading, this was a song to test if I could keep up with the tempo. "So I've just gotta keep up with the beat without showing off too much." I thought to myself, still looking over the music. 

The studio front door slammed open, making all of us jump. The book fell from my lap and both of my sticks nearly flew out of my hands. We all looked at the door, finding Matt standing there with a scowl on his face. 

"Can you stop doing that?" Amity hissed, which only made Matt roll his eyes. He walked into the room, dragging his feet the entire time before his eyes landed on me. 

His expression somehow became even more disappointed when he saw me behind the drums. "Oh, so the hu..." His gaze met Amity's, making him trail off for a moment. "...Luz is still here." Matt finally picked back up, his gaze shifting away from Amity's. 

Matt made his way to the sound room, passing by Amity in the process, who's ears were pinned down in irritation. She didn't say anything to him, rather, she just glared at him as he passed. I could see him mutter something to her, which only made her shake her head. 

Once he was back in the sound room, Amity sighed and turned back to me. "Are you ready to get started?" She asked me, leaning back against the table. I leaned down, picking the book up off the floor then slowly nodding my head, I looked back up at the four of them. 

"I can keep this open while I play, right?" I pointed down to the sheet music, half a grin plastered on my face. I hoped they said yes, because if they didn't I would barely be able to play since I didn't have much time to try and memorize the music. 

The Blights all nodded. "Of course you can." Emira leaned forward on her knee, resting her head on the back of her hand. 

"Just try not to look at it too much." Edric added, mimicking his twin's actions. I flipped back to the first page Amity had showed me, quickly looking it over one more time. A lot of the drumming depended on cues, whether it be from the singing or the bass.

Taking a deep breath, I looked up at the four of them, then gave them a nod. "Okay, I'm ready." The twins both put on their signature smirk, leaning back into their seats. Emira motioned to Amity, who looked over at Boscha before nodding. 

They both started, which only left me with a small window of time before I had to start too. "Alright Luz, remember..." I thought to myself, eyeing Boscha as she started strumming her bass. "Listen for your cues, but don't fixate just on Amity's singing." 

There was a brief moment where all that could be heard was the bass, then Amity started singing. I immediately kicked into gear, quickly tapping my sticks correctly to the beat. One tap on the left tom, then two taps on the right tom. 

Right now, it was easy to keep up. For a second, I almost considered fulling listening to Amity sing, but I shook away the thought. It'd be too easy for me to get distracted, it'd make it too easy for me to mess up. 

Boscha's tempo changed, and I scrambled to hit the crash cymbal before falling silent. I could tell I was a little late, but I tried to ignore it. My leg that wasn't on the pedal lightly bounced up and down, listening and waiting. 

"Cause after all this time, I'm still into you." Her angelic voice filled my senses, making me turn my head towards her. She had this small smile on her face, her eyes looking between the twins. I snapped out of my little trance, quickly hitting the drums in their correct order, wincing when I hit the wrong one. 

Mentally kicking myself for messing up, I continued with the beat, following the flow of the chorus. Then, just as fast as the chorus started, it ended, putting me back to the pace I was at before. 

The rest of the song followed that pattern, which made it a lot easier to remember. It even gave me a bit of leeway, I could focus a little more on Amity's voice, that amazing voice that was always luring me in.

And finally, the song ended. I took deep breaths, clutching my sticks tightly in my hands. Then, I heard the sound of clapping, and looking up I found the twins clapping with impressed smiles on their faces. 

"Great job!" Edric said, his eyes gleaming with this look of pride. "You were amazing! A few mess ups here and there, but that was expected."

"Especially since it was your first time reading the script." Emira added, folding her arms over her chest. "Honestly though, you were really good. Almost as good as Edric." I could feel myself beaming at their compliments.

Boscha stretched, taking her bass off her shoulders before leaning it against the table. She then looked over towards me, giving me an approving nod before picking the bass up by the neck and taking it to the sound room. 

I glanced over at Amity, who was taking a sip from her water. Her siblings stood up, moving over towards her before throwing themselves on her shoulders. "Whaddya think Mittens?" They both asked, nearly making her choke.

She placed a hand on her chest, swallowing her water before glancing at the two of them. "First off, don't do that. Second, what else is there to say? You guys basically said it all." Emira rolled her eyes, Edric only shook his head. 

Amity turned towards me, her siblings still stuck on her shoulders. "You did great Luz." My heart fluttered, her statement bringing a big, goofy grin to my face. I stood up, gently placing the sheet music on the drums. "We'll let you know tomorrow what the results are." 

The three eyed witch returned from the sound room, Mattholomule following close behind her. "Are you guys finally done?" He asked, not even looking in my direction. Edric and Emira moved away from their sister, now leaning on Matt's shoulders. 

"What's the matter Matty? I thought you liked our music?" Edric fake pouted, which only made the other witch roll his eyes. He batted the twins away, shoving his hands in his pockets before taking a few steps forward. 

"I do." He growled, side eyeing me before flopping down in a bean bag chair. Pulling out his scroll, he grumbled something under his breath, making the twins ears perk up, a subtle look of shock on their faces. They both looked at Matt, then to each other, then to Amity. 

They moved back over towards her, both of them going to whisper her something, but she waved them away. Amity looked up at me, her eyes meeting mine, then she motioned for me to follow her. 

My feet moved me forward before I even took in what I was doing. I quickly caught up to Amity, walking behind her. Behind us, I could hear the twins chuckling. "Wow Mittens, stealing Luz away for yourself huh?" 

Amity just shook her head, leading the two of us around the corner. Around the corner was a small hallway lined with doors, each of them with a name towards the top. 

We passed by the twins doors, and under their names in bold writing were the words "Obnoxious losers." I laughed, picking up my pace so that I was walking side by side with Amity. "What was that about?" I motioned behind me at the phrases. 

"Payback." Amity's response was blunt, which made me wonder, but only for a moment. The two of us made it to Amity's door, which like her siblings, had writing under her name. However, this writing was different, it read "Mittens is a dork!" 

She opened the door, the two of us walking inside, her door closing behind us with a soft click. The room wasn't very large, but it wasn't cramped. There was a desk on the left wall of the room, a chair pushed under it. On top of the desk was a large mirror surrounded by small lights, which were turned off. 

Then on the other side of the room, there was a small, pine green cot. It had a small pillow, but no blankets. I moved over to the cot, taking a seat in the middle. Amity pulled the chair out from under her desk and spun it around so that she'd be facing me. 

Her hand lingered at the top of chair for a moment, then her eyes widened. She stepped towards me, holding her hand out for me to take. I raised an eyebrow at her, but I still took her hand. 

She stood me up, and the second her hand let go of mine, she pulled me into another hug. It was a bone crushing hug, which completely caught me off guard. "This is for earlier." She mumbled, giving me a final squeeze before letting go. 

I rubbed my sides, a laugh bubbling up from inside me. "Geez Amity, give me a warning next time you wanna bear hug all the air out of me." Amity chuckled, sitting down in her chair while I sat back down on the cot. 

"Well hey, sorry I'm excited. I mean, you're staying the Boiling Isles!" She said, not even trying to hide the excitement in her voice. It felt a little odd seeing Amity like this rather than her cold counterpart, but it was a good kind of odd. 

"I'm glad you're excited." I said with a smile, my gaze traveling to the corner of her mirror. My eyes widened and I stood up, moving over towards her mirror. "No way!" I said, suddenly stumbling and nearly falling to the ground. 

I managed to save myself by grabbing onto the corner of her desk, which violently shook the piece. Picking myself up, I reached out to the corner of her mirror and pulled out the photo. "You still have this?" I exclaimed, showing her the photo of the two of us, watching as her ears went down slightly. 

She struggled to think of a response, stuttering a few intelligible words for a moment before finally saying "Yeah, why wouldn't I still have it?" My eyes were drawn to Amity in the background, who was laughing. 

"Dunno, I just didn't think you'd have it here." I muttered, a small smile stuck on my face. Carefully, I ran my thumb over my face, chuckling at how dorky I looked with my hoodie on. "I should've brought mine."

Putting the photo back in place, I leaned on the back of Amity's chair. "So..." I dragged on in a dumb voice, making her roll her eyes. "Why'd you wanna drag me in here, huh?" 

"To hang out with you?" She said with a smile, the tone of her voice telling me she thought that was obvious. "I mean, to hang out with you alone y'know. Honestly my siblings were just gonna keep messing with us, and Matt is out there..." 

Her ears pinned down against her head again as she mentioned Matt. "Yeah, I don't think he likes me very much." I rubbed the back of my neck as I gave off a nervous chuckle, remembering what Matt said to me earlier. 

Amity caught on that something was off. "Did he say anything to you?"

"He did... but it was nothing!" I waved my hands in front of me as I shook my head, putting on a smile. Amity gave me a glance that told me she didn't believe me, but she didn't pry any further. 

The two of us fell silent for a moment, I took off my beanie and ran my hand through my hair, ruffling it slightly. "You don't really like him, do you?" I asked, placing my beanie in my lap. 

"No, it's not that." Amity's gaze refused to meet mine as she clasped her hands together. "It's just, his short temper and remarks gets on my nerves way too easily. But, he makes up for that by being a great sound director." 

"And what about the others?" Amity leaned back into the chair, waving her right hand in circles. 

"My siblings like to mess with him, but I don't know how they really feel about him. And Boscha... I think she just tolerates him. Honestly I don't really know how they feel about them." The witch admitted with a laugh, sitting back up in her chair. 

We both fell silent again, my gaze fell back down to my beanie. A sudden idea came to mind, and with a smirk, I tossed my beanie over to Amity. She made a small sound of surprise, then looked down at my beanie in her lap. 

She looked back up at me, raising an eyebrow with an amused look on her face. I motioned for her to put it on, which made her shake her head, but she put it on without any questions. 

Grinning, I stood up and moved over towards her, slightly adjusting the red cap on her head. Standing back, I gave an approving nod. "Here, give me your scroll." 

"Why do you need it?" She questioned, squinting at me with half a smile. 

"You'll see!" Amity playfully rolled her eyes, but she pulled out her scroll and handed it to me. With an excited grin, I pulled out her scroll's camera and took a few more steps back. 

I fiddled with the settings for a moment, then once the camera was clear, I gave Amity a thumbs up. "Alright, now pose!" Amity huffed softly, a small grin on her face. 

She held up a peace sign and closed her eyes, a lopsided smirk resting on her lips. I quickly got a photo and looked it over, making sure that it wasn't blurry, which surprisingly it wasn't.

I handed her scroll back to her, leaving it on the photo. She eyed it over, a low chuckle escaping her lips. "So what's this for?" She asked, slowly reaching up and taking the beanie off her head. 

"Well one, it's so you've got a good photo. And two, when I get a scroll, you can send it to me! That way, I'll have my own little keepsake of you." I winked, noticing how her cheeks slowly became a light pink shade. 

"I'm surprised you haven't gotten one yet." Amity remarked, still staring at her photo. I shrugged my shoulders. 

"I just haven't convinced Eda to get me one yet. But, once I do, you'll be the first to get my number." There was a subtle, flirty tone to my voice. Amity snorted, shaking her head. 

Amity sighed softly, a smile stuck on her face as she pressed a few buttons on her scroll. She tossed my beanie back to me, which I fumbled before clutching it in my hands. 

Quickly throwing my beanie back on, I looked at myself in the mirror to make sure it looked okay. "Hey Luz?" I hummed, slightly adjusting my beanie before shooting myself finger guns. "Wanna take a few more photos? Make a few more keepsakes?" 

I turned my gaze back to her, another lopsided smile appearing on my face as I nodded. Her eyes lit up at my expression, then she grabbed onto my jacket and pulled me down to her level. "Great, now do a good pose or I'll make you!"


	7. Final choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes!

Amity POV: 

Luz left a couple of hours after she arrived, saying something about how she should see if The Owl Lady needed any help. She also said that she'd bring us some human snacks to try the next time she dropped by. And with a hug, she left me alone in my room. 

I could hear the muffled sounds of my siblings voices telling her goodbye. Leaning my head back onto my chair, I took a deep breath and just melted into the chair. The studio's front door closed, which meant that Luz had left, and that just left me here with the others. 

It went quiet for a moment, which I found a little odd. Then, my scroll pinged. I rolled my eyes and unlocked it, finding it was a message from Boscha. "Get out here before someone gets killed." I read, raising an eyebrow. 

"What is she talking about?" I muttered to myself as I got out of my chair, going towards my door and pulling it open. Stepping out, I could hear my sibling's hushed voices, and from the sound of it, they were arguing. 

Stepping out around the corner, I found both of my siblings standing in front of Matt, who's arms were folded across his chest in annoyance. All three of them had their ears pinned down in irritation. Boscha sat behind them, typing away on her scroll, not really paying attention to what was going on. "Why do you guys care?" Matt snapped, clearly wanting whatever their conversation was about to end. 

"Oh we don't." Emira started, shifting her weight so she was leaning back. "But you should. Believe me, if Mittens heard you, she would've throttled your dumbass, and we wouldn't have tried to stop her." Matt scoffed.

"Bah! I don't care." He said, turning away from my siblings in a huff. "I mean, she leaves for two years, then just randomly shows up again for what?" My eyes widened slightly as I realized he was talking about Luz. 

"To say hi, wasn't that obvious?" Edric mumbled, leaning slightly against the table. Matt spun back around to face the twins. He was getting red in the face, taking a few steps towards Edric. 

He was going to say something to him, probably start yelling at him, but he stopped when he saw me. His expression fell, then he took a few steps back from my siblings. Ed and Em looked between each other, then back towards me, their eyes lighting up when they realized why he back off. 

Boscha glanced up at how quiet it got, noticing me before softly nodding and looking back down at her scroll. "Wanna keep talking Matt?" I asked, my voice taking on a cold tone. He glared at me, taking a seat at the table without saying a word. 

I walked over to the three, both Ed and Em moving out of my way. Slamming my hand down on the table, Matt didn't react, rather he just pulled out his scroll and started ignoring me. "So, do you want to tell me what you said to Luz?" 

Both Ed and Em raised an eyebrow, looking at me before looking at Matt. Matt rolled his eyes, angrily pressing a few buttons on his scroll. "Nothing that wasn't the truth." He spat, his eyebrows tightly furrowed together. 

"Which was?" I growled, his eyes met mine. His look was full of venom, almost enough to make me back off, but I still stood my ground. Matt stood up, his chair flying back and nearly hitting Boscha. 

"I'm not having this conversation." Matt said in a low tone, walking towards the front door. None of us tried to stop him. He slammed the door behind him when he left, making me wince slightly. My siblings leaned on my shoulders, both of them sighing. 

"We can worry about him later." I muttered, shrugging Ed and Em off my shoulders. "Right now it's too early for this." 

"Mittens, it's like noon." Edric snorted, making me groan. I sat down at the table, resting my head on my hand. 

"I know it is, but it's too early for me to be in a bad mood during auditions." Boscha perked up slightly, a small smirk landing on her face. 

"Honestly, after Luz's visit, I doubt that's possible." She remarked, glancing over in my direction. I chuckled, softly shaking my head. "What? You know it's the truth." 

"Whatever." I laughed, struggling to suppress the blush that was rising to my cheeks. 

"Seriously Amity, I haven't seen you act like that in years. I mean, you literally tackled her when you saw her, and last I checked, you don't do that." Ed and Em nodded in agreement. I shook my head again even though I knew she was right. 

Ed and Em both ruffled my hair before disappearing around the corner, telling me to let them know when someone else showed up to audition. With a huff, I tried to fix my hair by running my fingers through it, knowing that it'd probably work.

I slumped down, laying my head in my arms out of boredom. I could hear Boscha laugh, and looking up out of curiosity, I saw she was reading something on her scroll. With a low sigh, I laid my head back down. 

The rest of the day went by pretty slow. After each person that came by to audition, there was an hour or two in between of us sitting around, either chatting or relaxing. By the end of the day, only five people came to audition.

It was dark out when I decided to call it off. Even though it wasn't very late, Emira was out cold in a bean bag chair, which meant that Edric was scribbling on her face with a marker while Boscha took pictures, the two of them snickering the entire time.

"Are you guys done?" I asked, leaning over to see my brother quickly drawing Emira a handlebar mustache. He held back a laugh and stood up, putting the cap on his marker with a small click. I shook my head, pulling out my scroll to check the time. "How is she asleep? It's only nine."

Both of them took a step back, the two of them turning to me with a dumb grin on their faces. I rolled my eyes, snatching the marker from my brother's hand and setting it down on the table. Then, looking down at my sister, I loudly clapped my hands a few times. 

Emira woke with a start, jolting up and rubbing her eyes. "Wha?" She looked up at the three of us, blinking a few times.

"We're heading out. C'mon." She stood up, stretching before eyeing Boscha and Edric, raising an eyebrow and silently questioning if they had lost their minds. They both struggled to suppress their laughs as they stared at her, their eyes darting to look at the drawings on her face. 

Instead of saying anything, Emira shook her head and headed towards the front door, Edric not too far behind her. I grabbed Edric's bag of human candy, taking one out of the bag and popping it into my mouth. Boscha followed after me, shutting off all the lights to the studio.

By the time the two of us were outside, my siblings were already halfway up the road, the two of them merrily chatting away. I considered calling out to them so I could pawn off Edric's food to him, but instead, I stayed quiet and popped another piece in my mouth.

"Oh, hey wait Amity!" Boscha called out, picking up her pace so she was by my side. "Can I crash at your place tonight?" She finger gunned with half a smile, a hopeful look glittering in her eyes. 

"Sure whatever." She pumped her fist into the air and I raised an eyebrow. "Why though?" 

"Why not?" Boscha shrugged, staring at my siblings on the road ahead. I couldn't help but sigh at her answer, but I didn't bother to have her elaborate. 

"Well, I'm not walking to your house so you can get your stuff, you can go on your own." Boscha scoffed, waving away my statement as she laughed. 

"Nah, I'm lazy, so I'll just sleep in these." She pointed down to her outfit, which kinda surprised me. 

"Wow, what kind of parasite crawled into your head? Not like you to not want another outfit." I joked, watching the three eyed witch roll her eyes. She made her scroll appear, quickly unlocking it before opening her messages. 

"Dunno, what I do know is that it's better than the love parasite that's infected you." She remarked, not even turning to see my reaction. I sputtered slightly, then punched her shoulder, earning me another laugh. 

We both continued walking along the road, eventually chatting about the few people that dropped by to audition. We talked about how they auditioned, commenting about how we felt they performed and how they acted towards us. 

The two of us walked up the pathway to my house, and I noticed that it was unnaturally quiet, especially since the twins made it here before us. But, when I saw the bushes by the door rustling, I realized what was going to happen. 

Boscha continued talking, saying something about the third person who came by to audition as we approached the door. I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what was about to happen. 

When my hand came in contact with the door handle, both Edric and Emira popped out of the bush. "Boo!" They both screamed, making Boscha shriek and jump back, nearly falling off the porch as she clasped a hand over her chest. 

"Hello Edric, hello Emira." I mumbled, not even looking over at them. Opening the door, I motioned for Boscha to follow me inside. My siblings struggled to get out of the bush, trying to hurry and get inside before I closed the door on them. 

"Wow, not even phased." Edric said with a dejected sigh, slumping down slightly when he appeared at my side. I looked over at the two, noticing the dark orange leaves and tiny twigs that stuck out of their hair. 

"You guys are going to drag leaves into the house." I plucked a leaf from Edric's hair and showed it to them before placing it in his hands. Emira carefully nodded her head, then started to walk upstairs. "Where are you going?" 

"Gonna go find a mirror." Edric's head quickly snapped in her direction, his eyes widening as she disappeared up the stairs. 

"Em wait!" He called after her, desperately climbing up the stairs to stop her before she saw the drawings. He tripped up the stairs a few times, and each time he did, he nearly smacked his face on the steps. 

"Gods, he's so getting turned into a bat." I laughed, slowly walking into the kitchen. Boscha stood still for a moment, slowly shaking her head before following me. 

Shooting off a quick fire spell, I lit up the kitchen's candles before digging around for something to eat. "You hungry?" I asked, turning around to face the pink haired witch. She nodded her head, and with that answer I continued to look for some food. 

After about a minute of searching, I found two sandwiches, both of them with a sticky note on the bag that said each of the twins names. From the looks of it, both the sandwiches were PB and J. 

I tossed one over to Boscha, who took a look at the sticky note before shrugging, taking the sandwich out of its bag and taking a bite. "Won't your siblings be mad that you're stealing their food?" Boscha asked with her mouth full of food. 

Shrugging my shoulders, I pulled my sandwich out of its bag, taking a small bite before swallowing. "It's a couple of sandwiches, they'll be fine." Boscha looked down at her sandwich before shrugging and taking another bite. 

Motioning for the witch to follow me, we both traveled upstairs to go to my room. While we walked down the hallway, we passed by Emira's room and her door was open. Inside, I could see her hitting Edric upside the head with a rolled up magazine, Edric repeatedly apologizing to her between laughs. 

Ignoring the two of them, Boscha and I went to my room. I made sure to close my door behind us, I silently hoped the twins wouldn't decide to bug us too much tonight, but I knew that was a pretty big thing to hope for. 

Boscha kicked her shoes off at the end of my bed before flopping down on it, pulling out her scroll as she took another bite of her sandwich. "Don't get anything on my bed." I muttered, kicking my shoes off and putting them in my closet. 

She laughed, turning over so that she was looking at me. "Do you really think I'm gonna do that?" I glared at my friend, making her just chuckle and shake her head. She turned her attention back down to her scroll, finishing off the last few bites of her food. 

"I'm gonna change, so don't turn around." I told her, already pulling off my shirt. She hummed in response, shifting so that her back was fully facing me. Grabbing a large night shirt, I pulled it over my head.

While I was putting on a pair of shorts, I turned slightly so I could see the witch behind me. "Are you sure you don't want something to change into?" I glanced at the rest of my closet, knowing that I had a shirt and a pair of shorts she could borrow if she wanted to. 

"Yes I'm sure." I shrugged, taking my hair out of its ponytail and running my hand through my hair before sticking the elastic around my wrist. Moving towards the other witch, I sat down at the foot of my bed and pulled out my scroll. 

The two of us sat in silence for a moment, the only sounds that could be heard was our breathing and an occasional chuckle from Boscha. I leaned back against my wall, mindlessly scrolling through Penstagram out of boredom. 

There was a sudden knock at my door, and before I could tell whoever was on the other side to come in, the door swung open. Standing in my doorway was Edric, who was looking rather different than usual. 

Instead of his usual pointed ears, he had long, bat like ears on either side of his head, both of them a light purple shade with a tiny tuft of green fur at their tips. "What happened to you?" Edric winced at the sound of my voice, placing his hands over his ears. 

"Not so loud will ya?" He whispered, carefully taking his hands off of his ears. "And Em happened, it's payback." He softly chuckled, his ear twitching slightly. 

"How long does it last?" I questioned, lowering my voice so I wouldn't hurt his ears. 

"Should wear off by tonight." He shrugged, leaning onto the door frame. "Anyways, just dropped by to say that Em and I are heading off to bed." I gave him a nod in response, watching as he spun on his heel and gave me a quick salute goodbye. "Night Boscha, night Mittens."

His footsteps echoed down the hall to his room, leaving me alone with Boscha. "He doesn't even bother to close the door." I mutter in annoyance, standing up to close the door myself. Boscha chuckled, sitting up on my bed as she crossed her legs. 

"Looks like you were kinda right." Looking back over at her I raised an eyebrow. "You said he'd get turned into a bat." She motioned with another chuckle, a small oh leaving my lips. "How'd you guess?"

I shrugged, moving back over to my bed. "It's Em's go to thing when she messes with him. It's because Ed wanted to keep a bat he found once, and Em's kinda poked fun at him for it ever since." Boscha nodded, closing her eyes as a yawn overtook her. 

She shook her head to try and shake away the tiredness, looking over at me before summoning her scroll. I looked up at her, then down to her scroll before shaking my head. She glanced over at me, clearly wondering why I was shaking my head. "What?"

"Nothing." I responded, pulling out my own scroll to check the time. It was almost midnight, and I was surprised that it was already that late. With a sigh, I laid down on my back, holding my scroll above my face. 

Drawing a quick spell circle, I turned off my lights, casting the room in darkness. Both of our scrolls cast our faces in their light, making them the only bit of light that could be seen in the room. Boscha took her hair out of its bun, her pink hair falling over her shoulders.

With nothing else to do, I pulled open my photos, smiling when I was met with the bunch of photos that Luz and I took together. Clicking on one, I saw the two of us smiling. We both held up peace signs, Luz had her other arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me closer to her. 

Still scrolling, I stop the small chuckles that bubbled up. I was so focused on the photos that I didn't notice Boscha peering over my shoulder. She gasped in surprise, making me jerk in response, nearly dropping my scroll on my face. "Is that what you guys were doing in your room?" She exclaimed, quickly snatching my scroll out of my hand.

Shooting up, I tried to grab my scroll from her hands. She placed one hand on my chest, keeping the distance between us while she scrolled through my photos with her other hand. "Am you guys look so cute!" She gushed while I kept trying to get my scroll. I managed to push her arm out of the way and lunge forward, grabbing my scroll from her hands.

I tightly held my scroll against my chest, glaring at the pink haired witch in front of me. "When you said you were gonna get some keepsakes, I didn't think you meant that early." She joked, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Just can it." I hissed, putting away my scroll so she wouldn't try to nab it again. 

"Does she have the photos?" Boscha questioned, raising an eyebrow at me. I shook my head in response. "She doesn't? What, are you just keeping them for yourself?"

"Luz doesn't have a scroll yet Boscha." I said bluntly, sitting back down on my bed. "Once she does, she said she'll give me her number and I'll send them to her."

"Oh she'll give you her number~" She teased, leaning her head on the backs of her hands. "Getting serious now, are you?"

Boscha started to laugh which quicky turned into a muffled yelp when I smacked her in the face with a pillow. She moved the pillow out of her face, putting on a serious act that quickly crumbled into more laughter.

With a sigh, I turned away from her, staring at my bookshelf for a moment. "Speaking of Luz..." I felt the weight on my bed shift. "What's her status in the band auditions?"

I turned back to the other witch. "Whaddya mean?"

"Like..." Boscha motioned around, thinking of what she should say. "Is she gonna be in the band or not?"

"Oh..." I paused, slowly thinking through my answer. Out of all the people that had auditioned today, in my opinion she did the best. However, there were still the auditions that were being held tomorrow.

"Out of everyone else, I feel that most likely... she will be in the band, yes." I started, folding my arms over my chest. "However, there's still the auditions tomorrow... and if someone can do better, then they'll probably be in the band instead of her."

"But if they make it in the band doesn't just rely on their talent, but it also depends on how they act towards us." Boscha added, which I nodded in response. 

"True." I mumbled as I stifled a yawn. "But I've still gotta talk over the final choice over with Ed and Em." Even though I had the final say in the end, I still wanted to know how the rest of the band felt about new members.

"Are you basically saying that your final choice is Luz?" She questioned, a sly tone hidden in her voice. 

"As of right now, she is." I mumbled.

"Well, if she stays your final choice, I don't think the twins would disagree with your decision." She was right, Ed and Em would be absolutely ecstatic if I told them that Luz was the new band member.

I hummed in response, slouching down on my bed. My eyelids drooped, but I forced myself to stay awake even though I knew I wasn't going to be up much longer. Boscha glanced over at me before shaking her head, turning her attention to her scroll. 

"Hey wait, Am?" My eyes closed, but I hummed in response, letting her know I was listening. "If we decide that Luz does become a band member, how are you gonna let her know?"

"I'll probably just drop by the Owl House..." I mumbled, barely cracking open my eyes to look over at her. "Stop by after the auditions, hang out with her, drag her back to the studio." 

Boscha hummed, still staring at her scroll. I knew that she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, but that wasn't going to stop me. Right when I was about to drift off to sleep, Boscha spoke up again. "Amity?"

"What do you want?" I growled in a husky tone, turning on my side and opening my eyes. My neck was bent at an awkward angle against the wall, but I ignored the discomfort. She seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Boscha spit it out before I pass out." 

"Are you gonna ask Matt what he thinks if Luz joins?" Her question made me sit up, actually waking me up a little. "I mean, if it wasn't obvious, he doesn't like Luz all that much." Boscha stated, her statement followed by a nervous chuckle.

And she was right, Matt clearly didn't like Luz. It didn't matter if she was around or not, just mentioning her name would make him groan in annoyance. He seemed to hate the mere thought of Luz, and if he ever said her name, he'd spit it out like it were venom, that is, if he even bothered to use her name at all.

A low growl emitted from the back of my throat, his voice echoing in the back of my head. "I'll let him know if Luz joins, however, I don't think his opinion will have any weight on my decision." I muttered, popping my fingers. "That sounds kind of mean, doesn't it?" 

"Not meaner than your usual." Boscha snorted, typing something on her scroll before looking over at me. "But you do have a point, I mean, he's on the band but he's also just the sound director." She shrugged her shoulders. "Matt's definitely important to the band, but he's not directly on the stage y'know?"

Nodding my head, I leaned my back against the wall again, lightly drumming my fingers against my leg while I thought. Boscha could tell I was thinking, so she turned to face me. "Something gnawing at you?"

"Besides the love parisite?" I dryly laughed, lightly shaking my head. "Just thinking about Matt."

"What about him?" Boscha questioned, putting away her scroll, casting the two of us in darkness. 

"If Luz joins the band, I'm worried he's gonna try and mess with her. I mean, he's clearly said something to Luz earlier, cause while we were alone, she knows that he doesn't really like her because of what he said to her." 

"What did he say?" I shrugged my shoulders, a low sigh escaping me. 

"No clue, Luz didn't tell me. When I asked, she just shrugged it off, saying it was nothing." I rubbed my arms softly, a bad feeling about whatever he said stuck in the back of my mind. "That's why I tried to confront him earlier, but you saw what he did." 

Boscha nodded, resting her head on her hand. "I'm surprised he didn't storm off sooner. After all, that conversation with your siblings was going on about five minutes before you showed up." 

"Why were they even arguing anyways?" I remembered what Emira said to him, that I would've choked him out and they wouldn't have stopped me. 

"I'm pretty sure it was because of something that he said after Luz auditioned." My eyes widened slightly at her answer. "He said something that the twins heard, and since they said that it would've pissed you off, that means it was probably about you or Luz." 

She stretched her arms out, taking in a deep breath before letting it all out in a sigh. Before I could ask my next question, she continued to speak. "I didn't ask them what Matt said, so I'm just as clueless as you." 

Boscha laid back, her body hitting my bed with a light thump. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then glanced down at the floor. "Do you want me to sleep on the floor? Cause I will if you want me to." 

"No, you're fine." I said, still a little distracted. "My bed's big enough for two people anyways." Boscha shrugged, rolling over on her side so that she was just barely on the edge of my bed. 

"I'll have to ask them what Matt said tomorrow." I thought to myself, crawling up by Boscha, also laying on my side so that I was facing the wall. Thoughts continued to swamp my mind as I imagined what Matt could've said to make my siblings act the way they did. 

None of the thoughts were positive. 

After who knows how long of dwelling on my thoughts, I realized I needed to think of something positive if I wanted to try and fall asleep. It didn't take long for me to think of something, or rather, someone to distract me. 

Closing my eyes, a soft smile appeared on my face as Luz appeared in my thoughts, which quickly shoved back the thoughts that involved Matt. 

I couldn't help but start to imagine little scenarios that involved Luz and I in the band, both of us during practice, the two of us joking and chatting during our breaks, both of us performing on stage. I even let myself imagine the two of us backstage before a show, holding hands as she gave me a light peck on the lips, wishing me good luck before the show.

With a satisfied sigh, I continued to let my thoughts be filled by nothing but that sweet girl, finally able to fall asleep, knowing that I knew who I wanted to be our new drummer.


	8. Welcome to the band

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes for this chapter!

Luz POV:

I sat on the couch, almost halfway asleep. After the band audition, I went to go help Eda with her stand, selling off more of her human artifacts. And once night had fallen, Eda asked if I would help her get a soomite tooth so she could test a new potion, to which I happily agreed. 

Let's just say, getting chased by a giant pig like creature is as terrifying as it is tiring. Not to mention that distracting that thing was near impossible. But, Eda did manage to get the tooth and we both left with only a few bruises and scrapes. 

And, in return for helping her for the night, she said that not only could I sleep in, but she'd try to find me a scroll. However, instead of taking Eda up on her offer to get more sleep, I decided to get up early to go visit my mom before her shift, filling her in about my first day. 

When I mentioned how I auditioned for the band, she was really excited for me, which made me happy. I told her that I'd let her know what their decision was as soon as I could. 

While I was still on Earth, I decided to pick up a six pack of bottled Cokes and a few different kinds of candy since I promised Amity I would bring them some human food for the band to try. I made sure to put the Cokes in the cooler when I got back, but the candy was just sprawled out on the table in front of me because of how tired I was. 

Lightly scratching at the bandage on my cheek, I cracked open my eyes and looked at the ceiling. Behind me, I could hear the little patter of King's footsteps coming down the stairs, then leading into the kitchen. A few seconds later, I heard the cooler open.

"King?" I groggily called, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. "Don't have any of the red bottles I put in the cooler!" The cooler shut, and King eventually made his way into the doorway, a look of annoyance held in his eyes. 

"Why not?" He questioned, folding his tiny arms over his chest. Sitting up and popping my back, I sighed. 

"I need them for later, that's why. Sorry buddy." I shot him a sympathetic smile, but he only huffed. I glanced over at the candies on the table when an idea hit me. I patted on the couch, motioning for him to take a seat next to me. 

Reluctantly, the tiny demon waddled over to me, hopping up on the couch and taking a seat. I motioned towards the candy sprawled out on the table. "Which one you wanna try out?" I asked him, watching as his eyes lit up. 

He took a minute, tapping one of his claws against his chin before he pointed to an upside down bag. "That one!" I picked up the bag and flipped it over, a smile finding its way to my face. 

"Lifesavers gummies! Good choice." I tore open the bag, pouring a few of the circular candies in my hand. "Which one do you want?" Holding my hand out for King, he quickly plucked an orange one from my hand and popped it in his mouth. 

"Why is it so chewy?" He mumbled as he continued to chew. I chuckled, taking a red one from my hand and putting it it my mouth before putting the rest back in the bag. 

"That's just how they are." King shook his head, finally swallowing the candy. The tiny demon then stuck out his tongue, staring at the bag. "Whaddya think?" I asked him, placing the bag back on the table. 

"They're... okay." He mumbled, crawling onto my lap to reach out for a different bag of candy. "I wanna try that one now." I picked him up, moving him back to my side. 

"Maybe another time." King looked up at me offended, then started to pout. Hesitating for a moment, I sighed and gave in, randomly grabbing one of the boxes and tearing it open. "Here." I offered King another piece of candy. "It's a Bottlecap." 

"Doesn't look like one." He said, taking the candy from my hand and quickly sticking it in his mouth.

I chuckled, setting the box back on the table. "You're right, it doesn't." I agreed, leaning back onto the couch again. My eyes fluttered for a moment, then closed, just relaxing in the moment. King crawled up onto my lap, laying his body against mine. His bony nose rested against my chin, the two sharp teeth lightly dug into my collarbones. 

"Human candy is weird." He commented, making me chuckle. I placed a hand on his head, feeling him nuzzle into my touch. 

"So is witch candy." I murmured, moving my hand under his chin so that his teeth weren't digging into my skin. King stretched out, ending his stretch with a cute little sigh before pushing himself off of me. I glanced down at my white shirt, which was now covered in little bits of King's fur.

He hopped off the couch and moved over to the window by the door, curling up in the window sill to bask in the sun. "Morning nap time." He mumbled before sighing. 

"Sounds like a good idea." Laying across the couch, I used one arm as a pillow and the other to cover my eyes. A bit of time passed where there was only silence, then I could hear the heavy creaking of the wooden steps as someone walked down them.

Footsteps slowly got closer to the couch before stopping. "What's all this?" Moving my arm off of my eyes, I cracked one open to see Eda standing by the arm of the couch, one hand on her hip, the other wrapped around a glass of apple blood. 

"Human candy." I mumbled, putting my arm back over my eyes. Eda snorted, probably shaking her head. She swiped my legs off the side of the couch, leaving me hanging halfway off the couch. I groaned in response, but I didn't bother to fix myself.

"I thought you were gonna sleep in?" Eda took a sip of her drink before placing it on the table, moving a few of the bags out of her way. I shrugged, taking my arm off of my eyes and looking up at the ceiling, blinking a few times to get rid of my blurry vision. 

"I was going to." I mumbled, letting my arm hang off the side of the couch. "But I decided to give my mom a quick visit, fill her in on how the first day was." 

Eda snorted again, taking another sip of her drink. "You didn't tell her you almost got eaten last night, did you?" I shook my head. "Okay good. Don't want her thinking I'm just using you as some kind of bait."

I chuckled at her response, fixing my position so I was sitting on the couch. We sat in the comfortable silence for a moment, and it was almost quiet enough for me to doze off again. I started to close my eyes, my head drooping forward before I jerked it up. 

"If you're that tired kiddo, go back to bed." Eda muttered, pressing her thumb against her snaggletooth. "Besides, I don't open shop for another hour or so, so you can take it easy." I smiled, which made her shoot me half a grin before ruffling my hair. "Now get going."

I stood up, feeling a few of my joints pop in response to the movement. Then, I wrapped my arms around Eda, making her stiffen up. "Thanks Eda." She chuckled when I pulled away, shaking her head. 

"I'll never get used to those." She muttered under her breath as I made my way to the stairs. Grabbing onto the railing, I paused before looking back. 

"Just give me a call if you need help with anything!" Eda nodded her head, finishing off her drink. "Also, make sure King doesn't have any of those red bottles I put in the cooler please." She turned around, raising an eyebrow. 

"What are those? Potions?" I shook my head. 

"No, it's called soda. And I got them for my friends to try." She blinked a few times before shaking her head again. "Also they're like, pure sugar so..." Eda turned to look at King, then she sighed. 

"Yeah, we're keeping him away from those then." Casting a quick spell circle, she floated all of the candy on the table onto the kitchen counter. I nodded my head, then quickly made my way upstairs to my room.

With a tired sigh, I pulled open my door and carefully closed it behind me, dragging my feet over to my sleeping bag. I got down on the floor and laid down on my stomach, sticking both of my arms under my pillow for support. Laying my head sideways on my pillow, I stared at the clutter that lined the walls of my room. 

"I really should organize this stuff." I mumbled as my eyes slowly closed, leaving me in darkness. The darkness didn't last, because what felt like moments later, I could feel something nudging my face. 

Opening my eyes, I squinted because of how bright my room was. Then, looking over to my right, I saw a familiar, tube like owl nudging my cheek. I screamed in surprise, shooting up and scooting back.

"Luz! You're finally awake!" Hooty said happily, ignoring the fact he practically gave me a heart attack. "There's someone at the door for you! Hoot hoot!" He then retracted back out of my window, twisting himself on the way down. I watched him as he left, blinking a few times. 

"Did he... open the window by himself?" I muttered, lightly rubbing my eyes. Then, standing up, I closed the window and tried to rub out the wrinkles on my shirt and jeans. I wondered who was at the door, assuming that it was probably Willow and Gus again.

Thundering down the old steps, I jumped off the last few, then slowly walked towards the door. From my side, I could hear Hooty's muffled voice talking to whoever was on the other side with him. "She'll be down in a minute! Hoot hoot!" He happily chirped. "While you wait, do you wanna hear about my day?" 

I quickly closed the gap between me and the door, pulling it open to spare the person on the other side. However, instead of being met by Willow or Gus like I assumed, I was met with Amity. Her eyes widened slightly at my appearance before a smile landed on her face. Hooty continued talking, but I didn't pay attention to a word he was saying. 

"Amity! What are you doing here?" I asked, leaning against the door frame. However, I slipped off the doorway and nearly fell flat on my face, but I barely managed to catch myself in time. With a nervous chuckle, I stood straight up, crossing my arms. 

She chuckled at my antics, a small smile on her face. "I just thought I'd drop by." She said, a smile still on her face. I took a step back and motioned for her to come inside. The witch seemed to hesitate for a moment, then with a sigh, she carefully stepped inside the owl house.

I closed the door behind her, Hooty still rambling about his day. Amity's eyes wandered along the walls of the house, a subtle look of astonishment on her face. "I'm surprised you're here this early." She looked over at me, raising an eyebrow. 

"Luz, it's almost noon." The smile that was on her face dropped, quickly being replaced with a look of concern. "What happened?" She brought a hand up to my cheek, carefully rubbing her thumb over my bandage and sending large jolts of electricity down my spine. 

"Oh..." I hesitated for a moment, distracted by the fact that she was cupping my cheek. "I was scratched by a branch while being chased by a soomite." Her eyebrows furrowed together. 

"You didn't think to distract it?" I leaned into her hand, not realizing that I was doing so. 

"That was how I was distracting it." Amity's eyes widened and she took a deep breath to try and compose herself. She clasped both of her hands together, letting out an exasperated sigh. 

"Why..." She started, eyeing me up and down for a moment. "Why didn't you use wiglac to distract it?" I missed the warmth of her hand, but I quickly shook away the feeling. 

I shrugged, rubbing the back of my neck. "Eda said that wiglac makes it angry." Amity's hands clenched into fists, her ears pinned down. 

"That's the point." She hissed. "It makes it angry enough so that it'll attack the plant, which will temporarily paralyze after they attack it." 

"Wait really?!" A frustrated, thin smile showed on her lips as she nodded her head. "Oh..."

"If you two were in soomite territory, there should have been wiglac almost around every corner." She mumbled, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Did you actually get hurt by the soomite?" Her tone softened slightly, her gaze moving towards my bandage. 

"Not directly. Most of my scratches and bruises were from the trees." I laughed, rubbing my arm. "Well that and me falling." 

She shook her head, her pointed ears slowly going back up. "I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt." I felt my heart flutter at the fact she was worried about me, a big grin appearing on my lips. 

I lightly nudged her with my elbow. "You care about me~" I said in a singsong tone, followed by a laugh. Amity stammered for a moment, then sighed. 

"Of course I care about you." She mumbled, muttering something I couldn't catch under her breath. 

"What was that?" Her eyes widened as a pale blush crept up to her cheeks. 

"Nothing!" She squeaked, shooting me a nervous smile. I squinted my eyes at her for a moment, then just shrugged. Taking a seat on the couch, I patted next to me, offering her a seat. Sitting down next to me, she sat straight up and crossed one leg over the other, clasping her hands together in her lap. 

Glancing at her posture, I snorted. "You don't have to be so formal." Amity just shook her head. I leaned back on the couch, studying her features for a moment. She looked, tense almost, like she was hiding something. "Alright, there's no way you just wanted to stop by, what's up?" 

She froze up, making me raise an eyebrow. "I mean..." Amity trailed off, her gaze drifting to the side. 

I gasped, making Amity jump slightly. "Wait a minute, were you missing me?" Her ears went down, giving me the answer I was looking for. "You missed me!" I pulled her into a hug, feeling her tense up at my touch. 

"So what I missed you?" She stammered before clearing her throat. "But that's not the only reason why I dropped by." Tilting my head, I raised an eyebrow at her, watching as a large smile slowly snuck onto her face. 

"What was the other reason then?" She took my hand in hers, her eyes glittering. 

"I came by to say congrats!" She quipped, but that only raised more questions rather than answers. 

"Congrats? For what?" Amity smirked.

"Congrats on landing a spot in the band." My shoulders fell and my eyes went wide. My brain took a minute to process what she said, the gears in my head getting faster and faster until I finally jumped up, standing in front of the witch. 

"You're kidding." My voice went a pitch higher than usual, I was convinced that she had to be joking with me. "You've gotta be pulling my leg." Amity blinked a few times, turning her head slightly out of confusion. 

"Clearly I'm not." She chuckled, and then it hit me that they don't use phrases like that on the Boiling Isles. "And I'm dead serious. You're on the band." A low squeal started in my throat which slowly rose in pitch and volume. 

I jumped up and down a few times, then threw myself onto Amity, pulling her into a hug. "I can't believe it!" Amity winced slightly at my volume and I quickly pulled back. She gently rubbed around her ear. "Oh gosh, sorry." 

"It's alright, I'm glad your excited." She smiled, her ear twitching for a moment before falling still. 

"I'm going to be in an actual band!" I squealed, spinning around in a circle. "Wait." I stopped spinning, turning back towards Amity. "Do I need to get my own drums? Cause uh, I don't exactly have my own." 

Amity shook her head. "You're gonna be using Edric's set." I breathed a sigh of relief, sitting back down on the couch. 

"Okay good." I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck. "I don't think I'd be able to convince Eda to get me a set." Amity nodded her head. 

"Edric will show you how to adjust it and such." I nodded my head, popping my fingers out of excitement. "And I can get you the practice schedule today at the welcoming party." 

"Welcoming party?" Amity sighed, nodding her head. 

"That's what Edric likes call it. Really all it is, is just us hanging out and showing off the rooms and stuff like that." She chuckled, leaning back slightly.

"I get my own room?" I squealed, but Amity shook her head. 

"Unfortunately no, the studio doesn't have any other spare rooms." She paused for a moment, her gaze turning to the walls. "But, you can share a room with me." 

I perked up at that statement, a blush rising to my cheeks that I quickly forced down. "So when is this welcoming party?" I put on a corny accent, watching as Amity had to bite back a chuckle. 

"It starts whenever I drag your butt back to the studio." I laughed, which made Amity start to chuckle. "But that's whenever you can leave." She muttered, rubbing her arm. 

I stood up, stretching slightly. "Honestly, I think we could head out now!" Amity stood up as well, her hands still clasped together. Then, I remembered all the snacks I got for the band to try. "Oh, wait!" 

Darting off to the kitchen, I dashed to the cooler and threw it open, grabbing the pack of cokes with one hand. Then, moving to the counter, I went to grab the assortment of candies when I stumbled across a note. 

"Out at the stand King's with me - Eda" I placed the note back down with a smile, then scooped up all the candy and returned to the living room. 

Amity glanced at the snacks I held in my arms, confusion painted clear on her face. "I told you I'd get snacks for you guys to try!" She shook her head, moving over and taking some of the candy from me to lighten my load. 

"I'm calling it now, Edric will choke on one of these." Amity said as she glanced over one of the candy bags, raising an eyebrow. "Goldbears?" She asked, turning to me and I nodded my head. 

"Yep! Technically you can just call them gummy bears though." Amity continued to read over the bags, softly pronouncing the names of the candies under her breath. 

While we walked to the studio, we struck up conversations. Every once and awhile, she would ask a question or two about a specific candy, which I was happy to fill in. 

"Okay wait, wait, wait, say the Skittles phrase again." I cleared my throat, hitting my chest with my fist a few times before furrowing my eyebrows. 

"Taste the rainbow." I said in the deepest voice I could manage, making Amity crack up laughing once again. I laughed with her, snorting a few times. 

"Why is that their phrase?" She managed to ask between chuckles, adjusting the few bags of candies in her arms.

"The candy is the color of the rainbow. I'll have to show you one sometime." Her eyes widened as a look of concern flashed across her face. "It won't turn you inside out, don't worry!" I quickly added, which seemed to ease the witch. 

The rest of the walk to the studio didn't take long, and before I knew it, we were at the studio. Amity drew a quick spell, the door clicking in response before cracking open. She pushed the rest of her door open with her foot and motioned for me to go inside. 

"Mittens is that you? Or is that you Viney?" Emira called out, which was followed by Edric's laughter. The two of us walked into the main room, where the rest of the band was. 

Edric and Boscha were both pointing to something on her scroll and laughing, Emira was leaning on the table, drawing small, blue illusions that disappeared just as quick as they appeared. Matt was sitting on one of the bean bag chairs, staring at his scroll. 

"Oh! Hey welcome back!" Emira nudged Edric, gaining his attention. He smiled, then turned to Amity. 

"Took you long enough to get here! Now the welcoming party can get started!" He glanced down at all the snacks in our hands, raising an eyebrow before his face lit up. 

"I brought snacks!" I went over to the table and set the candy down, Amity copying my actions. "Oh, and I brought you guys a drink to try!" I started to pull the cokes out of their plastic rings, handing one to each of the band members. "Just don't shake it."

"Will it explode?" Both the twins asked, eyeing their bottles with a mischievous look in their eyes. 

"Yeah, but not in the way you're thinking." They both smiled at one another, clearly considering it. But, before they could do anything, Amity grabbed them both by an ear, hissing at them to not do it. 

I handed one to Boscha, who took it and nodded her head to me as a thank you. Then, I went to hand one to Matt, who eyed it over for a moment, before glaring at me. "I don't want it." 

"Oh, alright then! I leave it out in case you want it later." I set his drink down on the table, then passed Amity her drink. "And guys, I wouldn't like, try to take a big drink right away, cause I have no idea if you guys have something like soda here."

"Why not? Will it kill us?" Boscha questioned, a teasing tone laced in her voice. Matt perked up at that question, a suppressed smile on his lips. I shook my head, noticing how Matt sunk down in disappointment. 

"No, it's just carbonated, and it might feel like it burns for the first sip." I muttered, making Boscha nod. 

Both the twins turned to one another, glancing at their bottles, then at each other for a moment. "Twenty snails to whoever can chug the most without choking." Emira quickly said, her brother nodding in response. 

Amity sighed, shaking her head as she turned away from her siblings. The twins both twisted open the caps to their sodas, flinching when it hissed at them. Then, they put the caps in their hands and started to chug. 

Almost instantly, they both started to choke. Tears brimmed their eyes as they struggled to not spit out the soda in their mouths. Boscha laughed, pointing her scroll over to the twins, most likely recording a video. 

Matt rolled his eyes at the two of them, standing up to leave the room. On his way, he smacked Edric on the back, then disappeared around the corner. Amity slowly opened her drink, her ears going down slightly at the sound it made in response. 

I cracked open my own drink and took a long sip, enjoying the flavor. Amity glanced down at her drink, then up at me, clearly hesitating for a moment, then she took a small sip. Her eyes widened slightly and her ears went down as she coughed a few times, tightly holding the drink in her hand. 

Her coughing fit ended far faster than the twins, who were still coughing, and she just stared at the drink for a moment, tears brimming her eyes. "You don't have to finish it if you don't like it." I said softly.

She waved her hand at me, slowly wiping her eyes. "No no, it's good." She mumbled, slowly taking another small sip. "I'm just not used to it." 

The twins were finally starting to calm down, wiping their eyes to clear their vision. "Who won?" Edric managed to choke out, turning towards Boscha, who finally put her scroll down. 

Boscha hummed for a moment, tapping her chin with her finger before shrugging. "No clue." Edric groaned, turning to his twin, who was still resting her hands on her knees, taking in short breaths of air. 

"You're lucky, now you don't owe me twenty snails." Emira's head snapped up to her brother, squinting her eyes at him for a moment. 

"You really think you beat me? You wish." She laughed, placing the cap on her drink. They both moved over to the counter, looking over all the different kinds of candy. 

"Gods, you went all out didn't you?" Edric turned to me, a big smile on his face. I nodded, which made him chuckle. 

We all decided to lounge around, the others testing out the candy that I brought along. And it turned out Amity was right, Edric would choke on one of the candies, only because he swallowed a Sweettart wrong. At this point, Boscha had opened her drink and took a sip, surprisingly not showing any signs of discomfort after doing so. 

"How?" Edric asked exasperated, which made Boscha shrug. She smirked at the witch, taking another sip. 

"Because unlike you, I'm not a wuss." She taunted, Edric's hands closing into fists. 

"Oh yeah?" He reached for his drink, probably to start chugging it again. However, Amity placed a hand over the bottle, shaking her head at her brother. "Oh come on Mittens! She's challenging me!"

"She's just trying to get you to choke again." Amity muttered, making Boscha burst out laughing. 

"C'mon Am, you ruined it!" Boscha laughed, Amity just shook her head again. "It would've been funny!" The three eyed witch stood up, placing a hand on her hip. 

"Yeah, until he spit the soda onto you." Amity said as she rolled her eyes, grabbing the bag of Skittles and pulling it open. She popped a few of them in her mouth before Emira took the bag. I watched as her eyes darted across the bag for a minute, then she snorted. 

"What kind of phrase is that?" Emira chuckled, showing Edric the bag. Amity stood up, trying to snag the bag back from her sister. Edric read over the bag, also snorting at the phrase. 

Then, his eyes suddenly lit up and he looked at Amity with a scheming look. In one swift motion, he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around before shoving her towards me. "Go on Mittens, why don't you go taste the rainbow?" 

Amity slammed into my chest, nearly taking the two of us down to the ground. She quickly pulled back, her ears pinned down as a dark blush painted her cheeks and her ears. I knew for a fact that my face was also getting pretty red.

She spun back around, struggling to chew out her brother without stammering. "You could've gotten one of us hurt!" Edric laughed, ruffling her hair, which only made her even more angry. 

"Aw chillax Mittens, I was just helping you taste the rainbow." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, which only made her cheeks flush a darker shade of red. She started to yell at him, which was actually more like a bunch of angry squeaks. 

I watched as she got angry at her siblings, who were only laughing because of how red she was getting. Then, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turning around I was met with Boscha. "You want a quick tour of the studio? They'll probably be at that for awhile." She nodded towards the siblings. I gave her a quick nod. 

Boscha motioned for me to follow her, both of us passing by the Blights, where the twins were now cracking jokes about their younger sister. "So this is the sound room." Boscha motioned to the room before opening the door. 

Inside, the room was cast in a teal light, filled with things like Boscha and Amity's guitars, string replacements, and something that reminded me of a computer. We both back out of the room, Boscha made sure to close the door, then we started to walk down the hallway. 

"Since you've already been down here, you've already seen the rooms, but I assume Amity didn't show you the end of the hall?" I shook my head, Boscha nodding in response. "That's what I thought." 

We both went to the end of the hall, Boscha went to push the door open, but it wouldn't budge. She groaned, then drew a quick spell circle before trying to door again. Still wouldn't budge. "This stupid door always gets stuck." The three eyed witch hissed in irritation before taking a few steps back. 

Then, she rammed the door with her shoulder, the door giving way and swinging open. Boscha stumbled for a second, then managed to straighten herself out. I slowly followed inside, my eyes traveling all over the room. "Woah..." I said in awe, staring at all the equipment. 

"This is the recording booth." Boscha leaned against a table, smirking at my excitement. 

"This place looks so technical!" I dashed over to the sound board, my hands hovering over the buttons and switches that I didn't dare touch in fear of messing something up. 

"One of the best in the Boiling Isles." She bragged, getting off the table and moving towards the door. I moved over by her, assuming that we were leaving the room. "Oh, and by the way, keep this door propped open somehow whenever your inside, otherwise it could close and get stuck." 

I nodded, mentally making a note about the door. We both left the recording booth, Boscha walking at a slow pace. "I'll make sure to show you the spare storage room later, and get you a key for the studio door." Boscha put her hands behind her head, still walking forward. "Has Am given you the practice schedule yet?"

"Not yet no." She rolled her eyes, a small chuckle escaping her. I could hear her mutter something under her breath that I couldn't quite understand. "What was that?" 

"Just said she gets distracted way too easily." Boscha murmured, which confused me slightly. Amity wasn't usually the type to distracted easily, but maybe that's changed over the years. "Anyways, let's go make sure Am doesn't kill one of her siblings." 

We both went back to the main room to find the three of them still fighting, but it looked like it had toned down a little. Matt was nowhere to be found, which meant he was most likely still off in his room, ignoring the five of us. "Oi Amity!" Boscha called out, gaining her attention. "Why don't you get her the practice schedule already?" She jabbed a thumb in my direction, Amity's eyes widened slightly. 

"Oh, right!" Amity stopped bickering with her siblings and made her way over to the table, flipping open a notebook before pulling out a sheet of paper. She handed it to me, and our fingertips barely touched when I grabbed the paper from her hand, sending small jolts of electricity down my arm, which I honestly thought was only a dumb cliche until now.

"Thanks." I said softly, scanning over the dates and times. 

"Let me know when you get your scroll, then I'll just message you the dates. That way, they won't be as easy to lose." I nodded, still glancing over the dates. Most practices were every other day, except for a few about two weeks from now, which there was a practice everyday. "The next show is in three weeks, think you can memorize the songs by then?" 

"Definitely!" I pocketed the schedule, giving Amity a thumbs up. She grinned, shaking her head slightly. Edric jumped up from his seat, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and giving me a noogie. 

"Welcome to the band Luz!" He exclaimed with a mix of different candies in his mouth, making him slur his words slightly, which made me start to chuckle. Emira appeared on my other side, leaning onto my shoulder. 

"Yeah, welcome to the band cutie." Emira winked before she also ruffled my hair. Amity rolled her eyes at her siblings, moving over to the table and sitting down, opening her notebook and scribbling something down. 

Edric let go of me, patting me on the back a few times. "Now, let me show you how to set up the drums!"


	9. New lyrics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes for this chapter!

Amity POV:

Edric walked off with Luz following behind him, taking her to show her how to correctly set up his drums. Boscha leaned onto the table, her eyes following what I was writing for a moment. 

Emira walked over as well, grabbing one of the bags of candy and pulling it open. "So~" She popped a few of them into her mouth, chewing for a moment before swallowing. "When are you gonna taste the rainbow?" 

"Can you be any less subtle?" I hissed, slamming my pen down on the table. Emira thought for a moment, tapping her finger to her chin. Boscha looked at her, then to me. 

"They could've said why don't you go kiss Luz Mittens?" The three eyed witch quipped with a smirk. "Wouldn't that be less subtle?" 

"You know, sometimes when I ask a question, I don't want an answer." I growled, punching the three eyed witch in the shoulder. She laughed it off, rolling her shoulder a few times. I then turned to my sister, pointing a finger at her. "And you're lucky I haven't put you two under the ground yet." 

"Aw c'mon Mittens, you'll thank us for this in the future!" Emira winked, placing a finger gun under her chin. 

"Which future? The one where Luz never wants to speak to me again because she hates me? Oh yeah, I'll definitely thank you then." Emira rolled her eyes and Boscha snorted. "I'm serious Em! I don't even know what she likes." 

"Drumming, magic, that book series you like..." Boscha counted off, her voice slowly turning to a murmur and she continued to list things off. 

"That's not what I meant!" I snapped back, Boscha put her hands up defensively. 

"Oh, you meant in that way." She muttered, looking at my sister. Boscha fake coughed, struggling to suppress a smile before breaking down into laughter. Emira placed a hand on my shoulder while Boscha fell to the floor laughing. 

"Mittens, sis..." Emira had to pause, clearing her throat to get her to stop laughing. "One look at that girl and I can tell you she swings for both teams." As if on cue, Edric and Luz walked back in the room. 

I glanced back at the two of them, watching as Edric made a few motions with his hands. Sighing, I turned back around and continued to write, listening as their footsteps both got closer. 

"What's going on here?" Edric questioned as Boscha picked herself up off the floor, wiping her eyes. Luz moved to my left, bending down and leaning on the table. My ears went down slightly at her presence, but I struggled to hide it. 

Boscha was still struggling to speak, her body overtaken by chuckles. So Emira decided to fill in for her. "Just Mittens being Mittens." Edric nodded, thankfully not asking any more questions. Luz leaned over, her eyes scanning over my notebook for a moment. 

"Are you writing lyrics?" She asked, her voice soft compared to Edric and Emira's voices as they struck up a conversation. I gave a bitter chuckle, lightly throwing my pen down. 

"Trying to." I muttered, staring down at the few lyrics I wrote down. 

"Mind if I try?" I looked up at her, noticing the suppressed excitement in her voice and the stars in her eyes. But, before I could give her an answer, Edric cut in for me. 

"Yeah Mittens let her have a shot at it!" He chided, leaning on the back of my chair. "It'd sure take a load off of your shoulders, and besides, wouldn't hurt to see things in a new light, right?" I looked back at him, noticing that his ears were flapping softly, barely enough to move the tips of his ears. 

It wasn't like he was wrong, it would take a lot off of my shoulders. But, I didn't want to just pawn that off to Luz, especially since she just started. Sighing, I turned to face Luz, who was bouncing up and down in anticipation.

"Can you handle this and memorizing the songs?" Luz gave me an enthusiastic nod, and taking a deep breath, I pushed the notebook in her direction. "Knock yourself out. I mean, don't actually do that but... you get what I mean." 

She snagged the notebook off the table with an excited squeal, quickly flipping through pages as her eyes flitted across the writing. "I promise I won't let you down! I'll make sure to knock your socks off!" Luz grabbed my pen off the table and scribbled something down on the corner of a new page before pausing. "Anything I should avoid doing?" 

I thought for a moment, wracking my brain for anything. "Just, try not to do a slow song. That's not really our thing." She quickly nodded, scribbling that down in the notebook. "Anything else though is free game. Just let me know if it ever becomes too much alright?" 

Luz had already started scribbling down lines, rapidly filling the page before she paused. "Any kind of deadline?" 

"What?" She motioned down to the notebook. "Oh, no not yet. I'll let you know when there is one." Luz nodded, then turned her gaze back down to the notebook, tapping her chin with the pen a few times before scratching down more ideas. "I'll go over your lines every once and awhile to fill you in on what I think." 

Boscha sighed, pulling out her scroll and typing. "So, now what are we gonna do?" She glanced over at us, two eyes focused on us while the other was focused on her scroll. 

Both of my siblings hummed, turning to each other before smiling. "I mean, we could always mess with Matt~" Edric said, his gaze landing on the drink that Luz had brought him. 

Emira snagged the drink before I could, eyeing it for a moment before turning to Luz. "You said this thing will explode, right?" 

"It won't explode like a bomb, more like it'll just fizz and get everywhere." She muttered, shooting a weary glance at the drink in her hands. Emira smirked, turning towards Edric. 

"And how exactly do you get it to do that?" Edric asked, placing a finger gun under his chin. I turned my gaze to Luz, shooting her a look that said not to tell them.

"You uh..." She met my gaze, fear glinting in her eyes for a moment before she looked back to the twins. "You guys figure it out, I don't want Amity to have my head over the mantle for telling you." Luz gave a nervous laugh. 

My siblings sighed, Emira rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Of course Mittens would be the one to spoil the fun." I huffed, turning away from the two of them as I folded my arms over my chest. 

"Yeah, geez Mittens lighten up a little." Edric lightly punched my arm before ruffling my hair, the two of them getting ready to leave. "Welp, we're gonna go and have some fun. Wanna join us Boscha?" Boscha nodded her head and the three of them got up to leave. 

"Just don't make it explode by anything electronic! It'll ruin it!" Luz called after them before sighing. She turned to me, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Sorry." 

I shrugged, resting my head in my hand as I leaned on the table. "It's not like they're doing it to me." Which I was grateful for, I was already apart of a lot of their pranks, being left out of this messy one was nice. "How do you get it to explode anyways?" 

"Oh, you just shake it when the lid's closed, then you open it and it goes everywhere." Luz motioned with her hands, a small explosion like sound following afterwards. I chuckled at her impression, watching her freeze up for a moment before smiling. 

"So they'll have to convince him to drink it." I muttered, remembering how he reacted when Luz offered him the drink. "Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen." 

"That, or they'll just shove it in his face and open it." She mumbled before falling quiet. We both sat in a comfortable silence, waiting and listening to what was about to happen. 

A door opened down the hall and the sounds of their hushed laughter floated into the main room. "Guys shut up!" Boscha hissed, still laughing. I already knew for a fact that she had her scroll out and was recording the three of them. 

There were a few harsh knocks on a door. "Hey Matt! Come out here for a second!" Edric snickered. I could tell he was the one that was holding the bottle. It went silent for a moment, their snickers becoming even more muffled. 

They knocked on the door again, this time more aggressively. "C'mon Matt open the door!" Boscha poked her head from around the corner, a big smirk on her face. 

"You sure you guys don't wanna come watch this?" Luz and I shook our heads in response. 

"Nah, I prefer not to get killed." I said, watching as Luz turned towards me slightly. 

She shrugged, disappearing back around the corner. "Alright then, your loss." I heard as her footsteps quickly came to a stop. "Matt it's a surprise!" She called out to him, and finally the door opened. 

"Do you guys just not know how to screw off for five minutes?" He growled, clearly already done with my siblings shenanigans. 

"You've been in your room for like an hour, chill out." Emira said, their voices falling to a softer tone, almost too soft for us to hear. I turned back to Luz, who had returned to scribbling down lyric ideas. 

I smirked, watching her while she wrote. "I see you've already got a lot of ideas?" She nodded, looking back up at me with a smile. 

"Yep!" A loud shout of confusion suddenly came from the hallway, making Luz's eyes widen. We both looked in the direction of the noise, watching as Ed, Em and Boscha barreled out of the hallway, tripping over one another and laughing the entire time. 

Matt followed shortly after, completely drenched in the drink. To say he was angry would be an understatement. The only words that came from his mouth that could be understood were swears. 

He darted after the three of them, screaming at them the entire time. The studio door slammed open, making the two of us wince. I waited for a moment, then peered over to the front door, finding it wide open with no one in sight. 

"Oh boy..." I muttered, slowly standing up and going over to the front door and closing it. Glancing at the wall, I was surprised that there wasn't a hole where the doorknob hit it. "I've always joked that Matt might tear their heads off, but now it might actually happen." I laughed, Luz shooting me a concerned look. 

"He won't actually do that... right?" Luz asked, her gaze turning to the studio door. I shook my head with a chuckle. 

"Nah he won't, at most he'll probably just kick their shins and yell at them." She winced at that statement, a hand going down to her leg and giving it a rub. Soon after, I could hear the muffled sound of laughter come from behind the front door, making my ears twitch. 

Luz looked at the door, then back at me before standing up. "Well, Imma skedaddle to our room for a little bit to write." She gave me a small salute and I nodded in response. Grabbing the notebook, she disappeared around the corner, but before she left, she stuck out her tongue and shot me a wink. "Give a yell if you ever need me!"

My face lit up, my ears going down. I sat down at the table and laid my head down in my arms to cover my face, a low squeal coming from my mouth. "It was just a wink why am I so flustered?" I muttered as the studio door opened. 

"Ow ow ow! Hey let go!" Edric hissed, turning my head towards the four of them, I found Matt holding both of my siblings by an ear and Boscha trailing far behind them, her scroll still out. 

Matt was still red in the face when he let both of them go, shoving them forward. Then, with a loud exhale, he drew a quick spell to dry off his clothes. He shot a sharp glare to both of my siblings, then spun around to Boscha, who nearly ran into him. 

"If you post that anywhere," He jabbed a finger in her chest, his tone low and grave. "I will make your life a living nightmare. Got it?" Boscha nodded her head, moving Matt's hand away from her. 

"Dude, I didn't even plan on putting it anywhere in the first place." She laughed, moving past him. Matt looked at the twins, flipping them off before flopping down in a bean bag chair. I laid my head back down in my arms, hoping my face wasn't as red as it was before. 

Someone walked over by me, pulling out a chair and taking a seat. "Where's the drum master?" Edric asked in a joking tone, tapping my arm a few times. I jabbed a thumb towards the hallway, not looking up at him. 

"She's down in our room writing lyrics." Edric gasped, then started to laugh. 

"You're telling me that little miss perfect is sharing a room with her crush?" I shot up, shooting him a glare. He laughed again, flicking one of my ears, which were still pinned down. "Aw look Em, she's flustered!" Emira walked over, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. 

"Do you always have to be like this?" I groaned, smacking Edric's hand away. He laughed, placing his hand under his chin and leaning forward. 

"You know you love us~" I rolled my eyes at his statement, which made Emira chuckle. She moved to the other side of the table and leaned down, staring at me. 

"Poor little Mittens is lovesick~" She teased.

"Not like you're any better." I shot back, Edric snorted. Emira blinked a couple of times, her ears moving down ever so slightly. Then, she smiled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She told me in an innocent tone, which only made me laugh. Her eyes darted towards Edric, who was struggling to hold back his laughter. Her eyes then darted to the floor, a pink blush rising to her cheeks.

"Sure you don't know about any healing beastkeepers?" I asked as I stood up, watching my sister's face fall and her ears go down. Moving to the studio front door, I pulled it open.

"Where are you going?" Boscha asked, glancing up from her scroll. 

"Just out for a walk." I said over my shoulder before stepping outside and closing the door behind me. Taking a deep breath, I let it out in a long exhale, then I stared to walk along the road. I stayed silent for a bit, letting my thoughts run without interruption in my mind. 

Continuing on my walk, I could spot the concert arena not too far ahead, a soft smile appeared on my face as memories floated around in my head. But, soon enough, my memories were filled with thoughts about Luz. 

Her winking at me before disappearing played over and over again in my head, making me sigh. I could feel my cheeks burning up, which was starting to frustrate me. I turned away from the arena, my brows furrowing together. 

"It was just a stupid wink!" I hissed to myself, my gaze sticking to the dirt road. "So why am I so easily flustered by it?" I searched for an answer, but nothing came to mind. 

Throwing my hands up in the air, I trudged on, noticing that trees were now lining the side of the road. "Is it just because I haven't seen her in two years? Or is it because the different outifts?" My mind thought to her outfit yesterday and the new one today, the white shirt and dark jeans really suited her. 

I groaned, rubbing my temples. "I swear, I don't remember being this bad last time she was here." Thinking about it for a moment, I realized that was also a lie. All the diary entries, the times I'd lie awake at night with her on my mind, that when she first started going to Hexside and I was ranting to my abomination in the hallway. 

"Okay, so maybe I don't remember because I was in denial." I muttered, running a hand through my already messy hair. "Gods, maybe Ed and Em are right... maybe I should just say something to her. Things would be so much easier." 

A griffon screeched somewhere in the distance, distracting me for a moment. I stared out into the sky, noticing the slight deeper orange tone it was taking on, meaning that it was sunset soon. 

Turning on my heel, I knew it was probably time I started heading back, albeit slowly. "Still, Luz just got back... not to mention she's now in the band. I can't just pile my feelings onto her so suddenly." I muttered with a sigh. "Gods, I don't even know if I can pile my feelings onto her at all! I still don't know if there's even a chance she could like me like that." 

But I wanted there to be a chance. I want to tell her how much I think about her, I want to gather up the courage and kiss her, honestly, all I want is for her to know how I feel about her. 

But was I really willing to risk everything I had with her?

Was I willing to throw it all away for one kiss?

Was I willing to risk her never wanting to talk to me again because of my feelings?

I shook my head, clearing the thoughts from my mind before I spiraled. Rubbing my temples, I sighed. "Alright look..." I started, trying to slowly put a plan together in my head. "Maybe just... wait a little bit." 

Looking up, I could see part of the studio in the distance, meaning that I'd need to wrap up my spiel. "Wait and give Luz some time to readjust to the Boiling Isles, then you can confess. Easy, right Amity?" 

A gust of wind blew by, making me shiver. Rubbing my arms, I picked up my pace a little. "Besides, in that time, you can figure out a way to confess to her!" I slumped down a little. "At least, a way to confess to her that won't make you look like a fool." 

Would Luz really care if I looked like a fool? I doubt it.

With a low sigh, I jogged up to the studio door and pulled it open. Stepping inside, I could hear Emira's voice talking to someone who clearly wasn't in the room. Walking into the main room, I found Emira talking on her scroll, Edric snickering at her. 

"Would you cut that out?" Em snapped at him before chuckling. "It's just Ed. Yeah, you know how he is." I raised an eyebrow at her as she chuckled, then turned my gaze towards my brother. 

Gesturing towards Emira, I silently asked him who she was talking to. "Viney." He mouthed, to which I nodded. Moving over towards Edric, I took a seat in the bean bag by his chair. 

Looking around the room, I realized that Matt wasn't out here anymore. "Where's Matt?" I asked, turning towards Edric. 

"Back in his room. Though, he probably cast some spell in one of our rooms first." He motioned between him and Em for a moment before laughing. "We heard two door open and close when he went down the hall, so yeah." 

Rolling my eyes, I pulled out my scroll and decided to go through Pensta for a little while. "Nah it's fine that you couldn't drop by. I get it, Puddles can be a bit of work sometimes." Emira leaned down on the table, nodding to whatever Viney was saying on the other end. 

She suddenly perked up, her eyes darting across the table. Edric chuckled, lightly nudging Emira. "What's she saying sis?" Emira waved a hand at him, telling him to shut up. 

"Uh..." She glanced over at me for a moment. "I can probably meet up in about an hour." I could hear the slight waver in her voice that she desperately tried to cover up. "The market? Yeah that's fine." 

Edric turned towards me, mimicking Emira's actions before struggling to cover up his laughter. "Is Jerbo and Barcus gonna be there? They will? Great!" She smiled. "See you then!" 

She hung up with a dreamy sigh, staring at her scroll for a moment. Boscha appeared from the sound room, taking one glance at Emira before shaking her head. "Geez, do all Blights act like this when they're in love?" 

Emira blinked a few times before shaking her head, standing up from her chair. "I have no idea what you mean." She said in a calm tone, Boscha looking at her with a look that said sure you don't. 

Boscha flopped down in the bean bag next to me, leaning her head back to look at the ceiling. Emira stood up, stretching her arms out before walking over towards me. She bent down and ruffled my hair, I swatted her hand away. 

"I'm gonna dip, I want to go home and change." She stated, lightly pulling at her shirt. Edric rolled his eyes with a laugh. 

"Trying to impress your date?" I choked back a laugh, watching as Emira stiffened. She quickly relaxed and shook her head, subtly glaring at Edric. 

"No, this shirt is just bugging me." She muttered, turning on her heel and heading towards the door. Edric leaned over towards me, hiding his mouth with his hand. 

"Watch, she'll go in a white button up and dark jeans." I chuckled, softly shaking my head. She waved the two of us goodbye, then left. Edric leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "Well, it's her loss, cause now I get all this candy." 

"Don't eat all of it." I muttered, not looking up at him. He groaned, placing a hand on the top of my head. 

"Why not Mittens? You worried I'm gonna get sick?" He joked, drumming his fingers on the top of my head. "You doubt the powers of my self control." 

"You're right, I do doubt them. That's because you barely have any." He scoffed in response. "And besides, I don't care if you get sick or not, but it's Luz's stuff. So you don't need all of it." 

As if on cue, Luz appeared from the hallway, humming a tune that I didn't recognize. She had more of a bounce in her step than usual as she made her way over to the two of us. 

Leaning on the table, she glanced at the two of us, then around the room for a moment. "Where's Emira at?" She asked, which made Edric chuckle. 

"She's out on a date." Luz's eyes lit up as she swayed excitedly. 

"A date? With who?" Luz pried, clearly thinking of a bunch of different witches she could be with. I elbowed Edric in the side, making him wince and hiss in pain. Luz raised an eyebrow at my actions. 

"She's not out on a date." Her head tilted in confusion. "She's gone to hang out with Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus." Luz gasped, a big smile landing on her face. 

"I haven't seen those three in forever!" She exclaimed as she pulled out a chair. "Does Viney still keep track of Puddles?" Luz grabbed a bag of candy and poured a few of the round candies in her hand before popping them in her mouth. 

"From what Em says, yeah she does. Though she's gotten bigger." Edric motioned for Luz to pass him the bag she had in her hands, which she did. He took a few out and popped them in his mouth, handing her the bag back. "Pretty sure she could carry two witchlings no sweat."

I turned my gaze back down to my scroll, looking through a few more videos. Edric and Luz struck up a conversation about some topic that I didn't catch. After a couple of minutes, my scroll suddenly pinged. 

It was a message from Emira with an image attached. "Hey Mittens, how's this look?" It was a photo of her standing in the mirror, wearing a black tank top with a dark blue shoulder cover, pale blue shorts with a black sweatshirt tied around her waist. 

I glanced up at Edric, who was still in deep conversation with Luz. Deciding to be nice, I didn't say anything to him and started typing away to Emira. "Trying to impress Viney I see." Snickering, I hit send and waited for her response. 

"No I'm not." I rolled my eyes at her statement. "But seriously, how do I look?" Edric busted out laughing at whatever Luz said, startling me for a moment. Getting over the scare, I started to type my response. 

"Honestly I'm surprised you're asking me for advice," I started, barely sticking my tongue out of my mouth. "but I say get rid of the shoulder cover, it makes you look like an idiot since you've got the sweatshirt. Other than that, you look golden." 

She went silent for a moment, then I could see she was typing out a message. "Thanks Mittens! Appreciate it!" I couldn't help but smile at her sentiment. Putting away my scroll, I decided to finally tune into Ed and Luz's conversation, curious on what they were talking about. 

"So..." Edric paused, taking in a breath. "how are the lyrics coming along?" Luz's expression dropped for a moment, a subtle look of panic flashing across her face. She gave me a quick glance, her eyes holding this emotion that I couldn't quite read. Then, she quickly picked up another smile, leaning on the table. 

"They're coming along." She waved her free hand in a circle. "A little stuck on something right now, that's why I thought to come out here and give myself a break, y'know?" Edric nodded his head. 

I furrowed my brows, finding her quick reaction to the question odd. But, even though I wanted to ask questions, I didn't, now clearly wasn't the time. So instead, I just nodded my head to what she said. 

The three of us started to chat, our conversation slowly drifting from topic to topic. Boscha would occasionally chime in with a comment or a joke. Matt would sometimes drift out of his room, mostly to see what was going on before he would disappear again. 

And whenever he walked by our table, I noticed he was always side eyeing Luz with a smirk on his face. Not the kind of playful smirk on his face like my siblings would constantly have, no, his smirk was more malicious. 

Luz never paid him any mind though, her eyes would maybe follow him for a moment when he'd appear, but then she'd return her focus to the two of us. 

Around five or so, Luz disappeared back to our room to continue writing lyrics, and about half an hour after she left, Edric decided to leave too. He said something about being bored and wanted to head home before it got dark. 

So that left me with Boscha, Matt, and Luz, two of which were down in their rooms while the other was glued to her scroll. I thought about going to see how Luz was doing, but I was stopped by Boscha. 

"Hey, no one told me Jerbo's got a Pensta." She chuckled, showing me his profile. I glanced it over, smirking at it for a moment. Boscha scrolled down a little, glancing at the photos he's posted. Then, she started to laugh again. 

"What's so funny?" I moved behind her, peering over her shoulder. 

"Him and Viney are arguing in the comments." She scrolled down, laughing a little harder at the response. "He started the war with his caption and she's trying to finish it." 

It was clear their insults were playful banter, but that didn't mean they weren't entertaining to read. So the two of us went through the argument, laughing at all the dumb responses the two of them would come up with. 

Time flew by, and eventually we made it to the end of their conversation. Then, we started to look at the dumb animal accounts that littered Pensta, gushing over the stupidly cute creatures. After awhile, Boscha glanced at the time, then back up at me before standing up. 

"Welp, that was pretty entertaining, but I think I'm gonna hit the road. What about you?" She pointed to me and my gaze slowly drifted to the hallway before it returned to her. 

"Oh, I'll stay for awhile. I'll just wait till Luz leaves." Boscha smirked when I said that, giving me a light pat on the shoulder. "What? She can't lock up the studio, and honestly if I left Matt to lock up he probably wouldn't bother to." 

Boscha snorted, then just nodded her head. "Honestly you're probably right." She turned her head towards the hallway, her gaze lingering there for a moment before she looked back over at me. 

With a silent wave, she turned on her heel and left. I stared at the studio door for a moment, then sighed. It was quiet, too quiet for the studio. While the silence wasn't something new to me, it was still slightly unnerving. For a place that was usually bustling with energy and noise, it was weird for it to be like this. 

I decided that now would be a good time to go see how Luz was doing. I walked down the hallway, noticing that now there was the faint sound of music blasting through Matt's door. Rolling my eyes, I passed by his door and made it to my room. 

The room was surprisingly quiet, and when I opened the door, I realized why. There, slumped over on my desk with a pen in hand and her notebook wide open, was Luz, out cold. 

Making sure not to make much noise, I slowly walked over to the girl. It was clear she was asleep based on the soft snores that escaped her. I smiled, staring at her sleeping face for a moment before my gaze fell to her notebook. 

Curiosity got the best of me, and I wanted to see what she had written down. So, I slowly pulled at the corner of the notebook, pulling it away from Luz's grasp. Once I managed to fully pull it away from her, she shifted, making me freeze up. 

She turned her head to the other side with a soft sigh, still fast asleep. With a relieved sigh, I moved over to the cot to take a seat and read over what she's written so far. 

However, flipping to the first page of her writing, my eyes widened. 

All over the page were violently scribbled out lines. A bunch of writing was written down in the margin, questioning things about the crossed out lines. I squinted my eyes, struggling to read some of the defaced work and only managing to make out a few words. 

I then started to read over some of her margin text, noting that a lot of it was just asking if the lines made sense or if a certain phrase sounded stupid. "Gods, it looks like she just decided to scrap the idea." I muttered to myself, still scanning over the margins. "Though, I have to say that I think this is overkill." 

Then, one of the margin notes caught my eye. 

And that sparked the flame to my anger. 

There, in Luz's loopy handwriting, was a note in the margin that was longer than the rest. "Remember what Matt said about how Amity would like the lines." With a little smiley face by it. 

"What did he tell you?" I asked angrily, slamming the book shut. Taking a deep breath, I stood up and put the notebook back on the desk, getting ready to leave and have a chat with Matt. 

I went to the door and went to pull it open, but then I stopped. I turned back to Luz, my anger softening. Leaving her like that wouldn't be good, I would know from experience. Falling asleep like that just left a crick in your neck. 

So, instead of waking her, I decided to just move her to the cot. Could I have used magic to move her? Yes I could have. Did I not use my magic to move her just cause I wanted an excuse to be close to her? Yes, yes I did. 

Very carefully, I picked Luz up from the chair and quickly moved her to the cot, lying her flat on her back. Drawing a quick spell circle, I summoned a blanket and laid it over her.

Luz shifted again before falling still, her soft snores stopping. I couldn't help but stare at her for a moment, slowly reaching my hand out to run my fingers through her soft hair a couple times.

She leaned slightly into my touch, making another smile appear on my lips. Backing away from her, I went back over to my desk and pulled open the drawer, grabbing a sticky note and picking up a pen. 

"Show me the lyrics you have written down, including the crossed out ones if you can." I muttered softly, repeating what I had just said onto the paper. Then, I stuck it to the front of the notebook, making sure she would be able to see it. 

I looked back at her one last time, then made my way to the door, a low growl escaping me. Both of my hands were balled into tight fists as I stomped over to Matt's door.

Not even bothering to knock, I threw his door open. He jumped at the sound, quickly turning his gaze in my direction, then he scoffed. "Could you be any louder?" The annoyance in his voice was clear as he turned down his music. 

"What did you tell her?" I asked angrily, taking a few steps into his room. He blinked a few times, then scowled. 

"I already told you, I'm not having this conversation." His tone was cold, and that frustrated me even more. 

"Oh no, I'm not talking about that." I hissed, taking a few steps closer to him. He stood up, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. "What did you tell her about how I would like the lyrics?" 

Matt went quiet, so I took another step closer. "Did you not hear me? I asked, what the fuck did you tell her?" I spoke slowly, watching as his ears went down with each word. Finally he, just laughed. 

"I told her the truth. Her lyrics were trash Amity." My ears twitched at his tone. 

"You seem to forget, you aren't the one in charge." I growled, which he only rolled his eyes. "I'm the one who's supposed to be reviewing lyrics, not you." 

"Maybe I should be in charge then! That way, you wouldn't be able to put your crush in the band just because you want her here!" He threw his hands in the air, his eyebrows tightly furrowed together. 

"That's not why Luz is in the band!" I retorted, Matt just huffed. 

"What's the reason then?" 

"The reason is because she's a good drummer Matt! Why else? I may enjoy her company, but that's not why I put her in the band!" My anger continued to boil, and I knew that if we continued to argue, I might hit him. 

"I'd hardly call her a good drummer." He muttered. "And gods I'm surprised you're letting her write songs. Like I said, she's terrible." 

"I'm letting her write because I want to see what she can do, and I don't know if she's bad cause, oh I don't know, I haven't read her lyrics yet!" I snapped at him, noticing how he flinched at the tone of my voice. 

"Why are you so bitchy about this?" I could tell he was trying to end this, but I wasn't going to let that happen. 

"Why are you such a bitch to her?" I asked back, continuing the argument. His got red in the face, sputtering for a moment.

"Because she doesn't belong here Amity!" He finally snapped, getting in my face. "She's human! She didn't need to be here learning magic two years ago and she doesn't need to be here now! Gods, she should have just gotten herself killed when she first arrived here!" 

That one line made me finally snap. 

I grabbed him tightly by his shirt with both hands and lifted him off the ground, his feet barely above the ground. My breathing was heavy while my mind became clouded by anger. He didn't dare move, let alone barely breathe. 

"Listen to me Mattholomule." He gulped, his ears pinned down as far as they could go. "I don't care that you're bitter. I don't care that you don't like my siblings or that you don't like me." My voice was low and sharp, making him whimper. 

He was trembling in my grasp, his eyes wide as they darted across my face. "I don't even care that you don't like Luz. You may not like her being here, but you're gonna have to deal with it." I tightened my grip on his shirt. "But..." 

"But what?" He stuttered, his hands moving up to my wrists. 

"If I ever find you trying to threaten her to get her to leave the band, believe me, I will make you afraid of what I will do to you." I dropped him, watching as he stumbled before he straightened out. 

He took a shaky breath in, popping his fingers for a moment before exhaling. Clearing his throat, his eyes met mine, and I could see the fear he was trying to mask. "Guess that human is lucky you actually stand up for her." I could tell he was trying to put on his tough act again.

"And I guess your lucky I haven't hit you yet." With a shake of my hand, I engulfed it in purple flames, watching as his eyes darted down to my hand. "Really you are, cause I'm at the end of my rope." 

"You wouldn't." He said, his eyes met back up with mine, his voice wavering. 

"Are you sure about that?" More fear gathered in his eyes. "Now, what was that you said earlier? Mind repeating it?" 

Matt stuttered for a moment, then shook his head and gave me a response. "I said, guess that Luz is lucky you actually stand up for her." 

"That's what I thought." I extinguished the flames, noticing the relief that flooded his eyes. "Now you better get going home. I'm locking up tonight." He nodded his head, then quickly walked out of his room. I waited till I heard the front door shut, then left his room, shutting off the lights behind me. 

I went back to my room, finding that Luz was still asleep. I stared at her for a moment, then decided that I didn't have the heart to wake her and tell her to go home. Pulling out my scroll, I went into contacts and clicked call on one of them as I took a seat in my desk chair. 

I brought my scroll up to my ear, listening to it ring a couple of times before he picked up. "Heya Mittens! What's up?" Edric questioned in a cheery tone. 

"Hey Ed, is Em home yet?" I could hear him hum on the other end. 

"Yep, she got home about ten minutes ago." 

"Great, you can lock the front door, I won't be home tonight." I could already see the look of confusion that was on his face. 

"What? Wait why? Is something up Mittens?" I could just barely hear the concern he masked in his voice, which made me smile. 

"No nothing's up, don't worry." I could hear a faint sigh of relief come from his end. "Luz is just out cold here at the studio and I figure it'd be better for her to sleep here rather than walk to the owl house in the dark." He hummed in response. 

"Well alright Mittens, since you don't want to leave your girlfriend all alone, I'll let Em know what you're doing." I could hear Emira's muffled voice ask him what he was talking about. "Love ya Mittens." I paused for a moment, blinking a few times. 

"Love you too Ed. Tell Em the same." 

My scroll clicked, meaning he hung up. I stared at my scroll for a moment, then made it disappear, leaving me in darkness. I glanced up at Luz, hearing her softly snoring once again. 

I stared at her for a moment, then took my hair out of its ponytail and slouched down in my chair to get comfortable, closing my eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep with a smile on my face.


	10. First practice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes for this chapter!

Boscha POV: 

"So, wait a minute let me get this straight... actually that's not possible in this situation." Willow started to laugh on the other end of the call, filling my ear with its musical sound. "So both Amity and Luz have crushes on one another, but they're too afraid to admit it?" Willow managed to pull herself together enough to hum in response. 

"And now, they're both in the same band." She started to chuckle again, a few muffled snorts slipping out. "I'm sorry I just can't get over your joke." Willow cracked and busted out laughing once again. I laughed, lightly shaking my head. 

"It's fine." I could hear her clear her throat on the other end, taking in a few deep breaths to compose herself. "But now that we know that information, what's the plan?" 

"Honestly, I don't know." She muttered, probably tapping a finger against her chin. "By now, we could probably just let things take their course and they'd turn out fine." 

"There's one problem with that babe." I looked around at the orange trees that surrounded me, noticing some of the creatures that scampered across the ground. "One of them is an oblivious dork, and the other can barely hold herself together when the other is in the room. Waiting on one of them to make a move would take forever." 

Willow sighed. "And we can't just directly tell them that the other has a crush on them..." She trailed off for a moment, muttering under her breath for a moment. "So, we'll just have to nudge them in the right direction. What does Amity think about Luz right now?" 

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, glancing down at my nails for a moment. Honestly, I really needed to change their color. 

"I mean, does she think she has a chance?" I sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, letting it out with a sound that basically said no. 

"Not really." She sighed at my response. I could hear her shifting for a moment, then she put me on speaker. In the background I could hear the sound of running water for a moment. 

"Well then you need to nudge her in a direction that will make her think she has a chance." The running water stopped and I could hear her walking in some direction. 

"We've already tried that." I remember the events from yesterday. The sound of water reappeared again, confusing be slightly. "Also, are you watering plants right now? Is that the background noise I'm hearing?" 

"How exactly did you guys try to do that? And yes, I am watering my plants." The water sound disappeared for a moment, then came back. 

"When me and Em were poking fun at her yesterday, she told us that she has no idea what kind of people Luz is attracted to, so Em told her that Luz swings both ways." Willow hummed again, probably nodding her head. 

"And how did she respond to that?" She asked.

"I'm pretty sure she didn't believe us." Willow choked back a laugh, falling silent for a moment. 

"I..." She paused, trying to think of something to say. "You can't be serious... she didn't believe that? Has she... has she not seen the way Luz acts?" Her reaction made me laugh, making me barely able to hear her rambling on the other end. 

"Apparently not." I glanced up ahead, noticing the studio slowly coming into view. "Then again, it's Amity we're talking about here."

"But it's so obvious!" I could hear the exasperation in her voice. "The way Luz dresses, the way she acts, just everything about her screams bi! How does Amity not see that?" 

I shrugged. "Like I said before, she can barely hold herself together when Luz is in the room. Not only that, but she's terrified of screwing up." 

"Honestly though, who wouldn't be?" She softly asked with a sigh. "So, I guess until one of them makes a move, we're just gonna keep pushing them in the right direction, right?"

"That sounds like a pretty good idea to me." I glanced up again, seeing how close I was to the studio. "Alright well, I've got to get going. I'll let you know if anything new pops up." 

"Alrighty! You have fun with the band okay? I love you!" A big smile slowly crept onto my face.

"I love you too babe." My scroll clicked as she hung up. I made my way to the studio, pulling open the front door and walking inside. A low chatter floated to me from the main room, and walking into the main room I was met with the Blights and Luz. 

Looking around, I noticed Matt wasn't out here with them. But to be honest, what's new there? "Morning guys." I muttered, gaining their attention. Luz waved at me, a big smile plastered on her face. Amity shot me a smile while her siblings just gave me a nod. 

"Morning Boscha!" Luz chirped, sounding as optimistic as always. Moving over to the table, I pulled out a chair and took a seat by Amity. Glancing between her and Luz, something seemed off. After a bit of time, Luz noticed I was staring. "Something the matter?" 

"Are you guys wearing the same outfits from yesterday?" They both looked nodded their heads. "Wait, did you guys sleep here last night?" Both of them nodded again. 

"Yep! Amity didn't wake me up so I just spent the night here." I shot a sly look over to Amity, watching her roll her eyes. 

"What? Walking to the owl house in the dark is dangerous because the Night Market is nearby, and I wasn't just gonna leave her here by herself." Nodding my head, I hummed in response, then turned to the twins. 

"So, why are you two here this early?" I asked, watching Edric take a small sip of his drink. 

"We brought them breakfast." Emira stated, motioning towards the two of them. 

"You guys really didn't have too. Honestly, we could've just eaten some candy for breakfast." Luz said, making Amity turn in her direction for a moment, then she turned back to me. With a deadpan look, she slowly shook her head, making me chuckle. 

"So Mittens, since we're all here early, are we starting practice early?" Edric asked, finishing off his drink. Deciding to be obnoxious, he continued to sip to get the few drops at the bottom, making an annoying noise in the process. 

It didn't take long for Emira to smack him upside the head to get him to stop. 

While Edric whined in pain, Amity shook her head. "We can wait to start practice for a little longer. It's early and besides, Matt still needs to show up." 

"Emira could easily do his work." I pointed out, Emira nodding in response. Amity sighed, but she nodded in agreement. 

"You're right, but you know he gets mad whenever we touch the sound equipment. Apparently, we mess up his perfect settings." She put air quotes around her words as she rolled her eyes. "So we can just wait for him to show up." 

There was a bit of silence for a moment, then Luz slowly stood up. "While we wait for him, I'm gonna go work on some song lyrics for a bit, if that's okay with you guys?" Amity's eyes widened slightly as she turned to Luz. 

"Mind showing me what you've got down?" Luz blinked a few times, then nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. 

"There really isn't much written down. I had to fix a bunch of it." Another nervous chuckle escaped her as she slouched forward. Amity shrugged and stood up, giving the girl a soft smile. 

"That doesn't matter, I'd still like to see it." Her tone was surprisingly soft, but I couldn't tell if she was doing it intentionally or not. Luz froze, clearly scrambling for an answer. Finally she just smiled and shrugged. 

"Alrighty then." The two of them walked off towards Amity's room, leaving me with her siblings. Once we heard a door close, Emira lightly smacked her hand down on the table. 

"Something happened last night." She muttered, still staring at the hallway.

"Do you mean something between those two?" I motioned towards Luz and Amity, but the twins shook their heads. 

"No definitely not between them." Emira leaned back into her chair, folding her arms. "If something happened between them, Mittens would probably be distraught and they'd be avoiding each other."

"But, it does have to do with Mittens." Edric muttered, finally tearing his gaze away from the hallway. "Something's been up with her all morning. Can't tell if it's a good or bad thing."

"Any clue about what it is?" They both shook their heads. "Well, I don't have a clue then either, unless it happened after I left." 

"It probably did." Amity and Luz's muffled voices floated out from their room, and the three of us strained to listen what they were talking about. After a couple of minutes, Edric sighed, then got up and slowly crept over to the hallway. 

He peered over the corner, listening to them talk for a moment. "What are they saying?" His twin asked, but he just shrugged. Their voices got louder, making him jump and quickly dash back over to his seat. 

Edric barely managed to get in his chair to play natural when they appeared from around the corner, happily chatting away. "Matt told me yesterday that you were busy, that's why he said he'd help me with the lines himself." Luz said happily as she flipped through her notebook, Amity's ears going down in response. 

I slowly leaned over to Edric, Emira copying my actions. "What did they say?" Our eyes followed the two of them as they moved to the bean bags. 

"Something about scribbled out lines?" He muttered, confusion laced in his voice. Emira raised an eyebrow, side eyeing the two behind us. I could hear Amity sigh before the two of them flopped down onto the bean bag chairs. 

"Well, I wasn't busy, he just thought he could take charge for a moment." I could just barely hear the anger that was in her voice. Edric perked up, blinking a few times before turning around. 

He leaned on the back of his chair, putting on his usual smirk. "So, how are the lyrics?" He questioned, putting on a casual tone. Amity and Luz looked over at him, Luz glancing up at Edric for a moment before turning her gaze to Amity, waiting for her response. 

Amity hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "A few things need tweaked here and there, but so far, they're pretty good." I could see the look of relief flood Luz's face. 

The studio door opened, gaining our attention. In walked a very tired looking Matt, who slowly shuffled into the room before stretching. He slammed the door behind him, making me jump slightly. 

"Morning Matty!" The twins chirped, making him groan. 

"It's too early for you to be annoying." He muttered, moving over to the table and taking the seat furthest away from us. Both the twins look at each other, then smiled. 

"It's never too early for us to be annoying." Edric laughed, smirking at Matt. "Just ask Mittens." 

"Yeah, you'd be surprised how early we decide to be annoying." Emira added with her signature smirk. "You're lucky to be a part of the later bit." Luz chuckled. 

Matt rolled his eyes, laying his head down on the table. "Whatever." He grumbled, making me roll my eyes. 

Amity stood up, slowly walking towards the table. "Now that you're here though, we can start practice whenever you guys are ready." She leaned on the table, just barely in front of me. 

"Ehh, we can start practice here in a couple hours." Edric said as he leaned back into his chair, turning his head to pop his neck. "Give Matty a chance to wake up a little." 

Edric started to laugh and Matt lifted his head up, a low growl coming from his throat. But instead of saying anything, he rolled his eyes and leaned back into his own chair, pulling out his scroll. I noticed that he seemed tense, but I couldn't tell why. 

"Oh, Amity! I gotta ask you something!" Luz jumped up, quickly flipping through a few pages of her notebook before stopping on one. She starting to quickly mutter something to Amity that I couldn't understand, but Amity just nodded her head. "Alright, that's what I thought!" Luz then started to ramble about something, Amity still nodding her head. 

I could see Matt trying to subtly glare at the two of them, but Amity looked up from Luz's notebook at him. She glared back at him, making his eyes widen before he quickly looked away. 

I quickly nudged Edric, gaining his attention. He leaned closer to me. "Something had to have happened between her and Matt." Edric nodded his head, nudging his other sister and quickly telling her what I just told him. 

They both looked at each other, then gave a quick nod. Standing up, they both moved over to Amity, Edric placing his hands on her shoulders while Emira did the same with Luz. 

"Sorry cutie, but we've gotta steal Mittens away for a little bit." Amity looked between her two siblings, raising an eyebrow at the both of them. Edric started to drag her away and Emira let go of Luz's shoulders, giving her a little wave before following Edric. "We promise we'll bring her back though!" 

The three of them disappeared around the corner, a door opening before quickly closing. Luz stared at the hallway for a moment, then shrugged, taking a seat at the table by me. 

She glanced down at her notebook for a moment, then turned towards me. "So, how's your morning been?" She gave me a lopsided smile.

Her and I started to have some small chat while we waited for the others to come back. Matt sat there the entire time, not saying anything to the two of us as he typed on his scroll. 

It didn't take long for me to realize why Amity liked talking to her so much, she somehow managed to make everything interesting. 

Eventually, the Blight siblings came back, Edric and Emira both had giant smiles on their faces while Amity remained neutral. They both shot Matt a knowing smile that he didn't see before they both took their seats. 

Edric leaned over to me. "Mittens almost rocked Matty last night." He managed to say before chuckling, I looked over at him with a look of awe, then turned towards Amity. She didn't acknowledge that I was looking at her, but I could see the faint ghost of a smirk on her face. 

"What for?" I questioned, honestly disappointed that she didn't knock some sense into him. Because if we're being honest, he really needs someone to do it. 

"He was messing with Luz. Basically trying to act like he's in charge." Emira said, softly shaking her head. "I'm honestly surprised Mittens didn't go through with it." 

"Me too." I muttered, watching as Matt stood up and started to leave. Amity's eyes followed him as he left, her ears twitching slightly. 

"Matt!" He froze in place, then slowly turned his head to face the singer. "We're starting practice in an hour, be ready okay?" Matt stared at Amity for a minute, then turned forward and continued walking, saying nothing.

We heard his door open down the hall, leaving the five of us with one another. I pulled out my scroll, quickly unlocking it and going to Pensta. Leaning back in my chair, I started to scroll through the photos, halfway listening to Edric when he started rambling to Emira. Luz continued to work on her song, quickly jotting down lines. 

Time passed and the five of us would chat and crack jokes every once and awhile, but most of the time was spent in silence. Matt came out of his room a few times, poking his head over the corner or going into the sound room before disappearing once again. 

I noticed that every once and awhile, Amity's attention would be divided. She had her scroll out, but her eyes would constantly glance back at the girl next to her, staring for a moment before snapping her gaze back to her scroll. 

Smirking, I lightly nudged her brother, subtly motioning to Amity. He watched Amity for a minute, a faint smirk appearing on his face. "Whatcha doing over there Mittens?" Amity jumped slightly, then looked over at her brother. 

"Just scrolling through Pentsa." She tipped her scroll in his direction for a moment, then turned her attention back down to her scroll. 

Edric hummed, shaking his head. Still paying attention to Amity, it wasn't long before she went back to her pattern, scroll, stare, swoon, repeat. I was a little surprise that Luz hadn't noticed her doing it yet. 

Luz started to mutter something under her breath, then she looked up at Amity, who quickly looked away from her. Amity's ear twitched, and I could tell she was nervous, probably worried she was gonna get caught. 

But instead of saying anything, Luz just stared. She was completely transfixed just observing the singer. A smile appeared on her face, her brown eyes glazed over as she tilted her head. 

Amity's eyes darted at Luz for a moment, then back down to her scroll. She swallowed, then looked over at Luz again, finally turning in her direction. "Need something?" She asked, instantly snapping Luz out of her trance. 

Luz shook her head, nervously laughing and waving it off. "No sorry! I was just zoned out." Luz laughed again, then quickly turned her gaze down to her notebook, a dark blush appearing on her cheeks. 

I could see Amity smile, her ears going pink and moving down slightly. With a low chuckle, I finally turned my eyes down to my scroll and continued to look through social media. 

More time passed, Emira disappeared to her room, leaving me with Amity, her brother, and Luz. Edric leaned back in his chair, summoning tiny illusions with the twirl of his finger. 

He chuckled, making a few tiny blue hearts and floating them over in Amity's direction. They managed to catch her attention, her eyes following them as they moved around her. Then, they floated just above Luz's head, and an arrow formed and pointed to her while the hearts danced around her head. 

Amity turned and glared at Edric, motioning for him to get rid of the illusion. He complied, flicking his wrist and making the illusions disappear. I could see her breath a sigh of relief, mouthing something as she shook her head. 

She then stood up, lightly nudging Luz's shoulder, snapping her out of her little world. "Alright, let's get practice started." She said, moving towards the hallway. "I'll go get Em and Matt, you three go get your equipment." 

Edric and Luz stood up, both of them heading out to go grab the drums. I stood up and made it to the sound room, pulling open the door and quickly snagging my bass. 

Amity quickly came back from the hallway with Matt and her sister in tow. She went into the sound room and reemerged with her guitar, then started to make her way to the recording booth. Emira went to the studio's front door, probably to help Luz and Edric carry in the drums. 

I followed Amity, hearing Matt's footsteps behind me as we walked to the room. The three of us made it to the door and Amity tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. 

She sighed, then roughly kicked the bottom of the door, which made it open with ease. The three of us shuffled into the room and Matt made sure to wedge the door open so we wouldn't get stuck inside.

Matt instantly took a seat by the sound board, fiddling with a few of the dials. A few minutes later, The twins and Luz lugged in the drums, Edric leading the two of them where they would set it up. 

Luz was quick to start setting up, getting guidance from our previous drummer. Emira moved over towards Matt, watching him work on the sound board. 

"So Matty, are you excited?" Edric asked, moving away from Luz. He leaned on Matt's shoulder, making him sigh. 

"Excited for what?" He hissed, glancing up at the Blight. 

"Excited for me to be out here with you guys instead of in there!" Matt sighed again, making the twin chuckle. I glanced down at my bass, giving it a few experimental strums to test the strings. 

Amity mimicked my actions, wincing at the sound of one of the notes before quickly going to tune it. Once all our equipment was set up and tuned, Amity and I stepped into the room where Luz was, where she sat down excitedly at her drum set. 

I could see Amity smiling, her gaze lingering on Luz for a moment before she cleared her throat. "Got the sheet music?" She asked Luz, who vigorously nodded her head. "Great, we're gonna start with Prom Night, then we can move on to 505." 

Luz quickly flipped through her pages before landing on the one she wanted, then she shot Amity a thumbs up. The singer turned to me, and I gave her a nod. She then turned to the three outside the room and shot them a thumbs up, and we got started. 

Blocking out most of what was going on around me, I started to strum my bass. This song was practically muscle memory at this point, which meant I didn't have to listen for cues. 

We made it a little less than halfway through the song before Amity stopped us. She turned back to Luz, who was nervously fiddling with one of her sticks, her eyes quickly scanning over a page. 

"Sorry, read the music wrong and messed up." She pointed to the sheet music and nervously laughed, nearly dropping her stick in the process. Amity shot a soft smile, then turned back around. 

"It's fine." She said, gaining Matt's attention before signaling a redo. "Let's take it from the top." Luz and I nodded, readying ourselves for her to start. She hesitated for a moment, then we began. 

The song went on like it did before, but this time Luz didn't mess up on the part she missed the first time. In fact, we managed to get through the whole song without stopping. Once it was finished, we all sat in silence for a moment, our breathing heavy, finally Amity took a deep breath and turned to face the two of us. 

"How was that?" Luz asked softly, her leg bouncing up and down. I slowly started to pop my fingers, one eye focusing on our singer while the others focused on our drummer. She seemed to hesitate for a moment. 

"It was pretty good for the first run through." She started, then she turned to me. "But, Luz, your timing is slightly off, and Boscha, I can hear that you're out of tune." I looked down at my bass, quickly strumming the strings to find the ones out of tune. 

Amity stepped out of the room for a moment, going over to talk to Matt. "I'm surprised how fast you're picking this up." I said to Luz, slightly adjusting one of the string's dials. She laughed, balancing her sticks on the drums. 

"I'm a bit surprised myself to be honest." One of her sticks fell and clattered against the hard floor, making her eyes widen slightly. "But, that was only the first song, so who says I'm any good with the rest?" 

She quickly picked her stick up off the ground, placing both of them back in her hands. "Oh come on." I strummed a different string on my bass, tweaking its respective dial accordingly. "With how you did at auditions, you're definitely gonna be good with the rest."

The door opened again, Amity reentering the room. She glanced at me, then moved to her spot. "Your instrument tuned?" I nodded. "Good. Alright, we're doing Prom Night again, ready?" 

"Ready." Luz and I said in unison. 

"Great, let's get started." 

We went through Prom Night a few more times, each time sounding even better than the last. Then, when Amity was satisfied with how that sounded, we moved onto 505 and repeated the process. 

After the third time of going through the song, Luz slumped down a little, letting out a tired sigh. I could see Amity's shoulders go down, but she stayed quiet. Edric popped his head into the room.

"You guys are doing great!" He gave a thumbs up, making half a smile appear on my face. "How bout you take a break for a minute? I'll get you guys something to drink, whaddya want?" 

"The usual, just some warm water." Amity said, her voice soft. Edric nodded in response. 

"Same as Amity, but add some burrberry if we have some." I said, leaning against the wall. Amity turned to me, raising an eyebrow. "What? Not like I've been singing the entire time like you have. I want a bit of flavor." 

She shook her head, clearly rolling her eyes. Edric turned to Luz, who was carefully leaning on her drums. "What do you want?" She stiffened up a little, her eyes darting around for a moment. 

"I guess, the same as Boscha?" I could tell it was more of a question than a statement, but the twin gave a smile and a nod, then disappeared. Luz looked over at me, a bit of concern lingering in her eyes. "What's burrberry?" She asked. 

"It's a common fruit around here." Amity muttered, grabbing one of the stools from the corner of the room and taking a seat. Luz nodded her head, leaning back down on her drums, now trying to balance one of her sticks on her nose. 

A few minutes later, Edric arrived with three drinks in his hands. He passed them off to us, each of us thanking him. Luz took a sip of her drink, her eyes instantly lighting up. "This stuff tastes like blackberry!" 

"Like what?" Amity asked, taking another sip of her drink. 

"Blackberry! It's a type of fruit on Earth." I could hear a small oh come from Amity as she nodded her head. "So, what songs are we doing after this?" 

Amity cleared her throat, lowering her drink. "We'll probably run through Prom Night and 505 a few more times, and if it's not too late, then maybe we can move on to another song." 

"How many songs were we doing for this gig again?" I asked, noticing that Luz quickly finished off her drink, then set the cup on the floor. 

"We're doing six songs for this next gig, then the one after we're doing four songs." She took the last sip of her drink, then stood up, balancing her guitar against the wall before grabbing Luz's cup and walking out of the room to take care of the cups. 

I glanced back at Luz, noticing how nervous she looked. "When are the gigs?" She mumbled, lightly drumming her fingers against the side of her seat. 

"There's the one in three weeks, then there's one three or four days after that." I could hear a low whimper escape her as she stared down at her drums, her fingers drumming against the chair a little faster. 

"So, just gotta memorize ten songs in that time." Her statement made me snort, which only made her look over at me with an eyebrow raised. 

"Nope. You've just gotta learn six for now." Luz blinked a few times, clearly confused. 

"But, Amity said six songs at the first gig and four songs at the second." She quickly started counting off, making me have to stifle my chuckles. 

"We're playing the six at the first gig, then we're taking four songs from that gig and playing it at the next one." The door opened again and Amity stepped back inside, glancing at the two of us before smiling. 

"What are you guys talking about?" She asked innocently, picking her guitar back up and letting it hang off her shoulder. I placed my cup down on the floor by the wall, making sure it was in a place where I couldn't knock it over. 

"Just the gigs. You almost gave our poor drummer a heart attack Am." She raised an eyebrow, confusion painted on her face. 

"I just thought I had to memorize ten songs in like, three weeks." Luz chimed in, chuckling afterwards. Amity's eyes widened slightly, then she quickly shook her head. 

"Oh gods no, you've just got to memorize the six. Sorry, I should've said that." Luz waved it off, shooting Amity a little smirk. 

"Nah it's alright, no biggie." She placed a finger gun under her chin, her eyes lighting up. "Though, you did manage to drum up a lot of tension." Luz pointed down to her drums, which only made me groan. 

"That was terrible." I muttered, making her raise an eyebrow. 

"Oh come on! It wasn't that out of tune!" She joked again, and that somehow managed to make Amity chuckle. Luz's eyes lit up again, a bit of a blush appearing on her cheeks. "Hear that? That's music to my ears." She jabbed a thumb towards Amity, who chuckled again. 

"Alright nope, not dealing with more puns." I threw my hands up in the air, grabbing my cup off the floor and moving towards the door. I quickly left before she could make another dumb joke, closing the door behind me with a sigh. 

"You look annoyed." Emira said, taking my cup from my hands. She drew a quick spell, then the cup disappeared. "What's up?" 

"Luz is making puns." That made Emira's twin perk up, a smile appearing on his face. 

"Puns?" He asked excitedly, but Emira and Matt shook their heads. 

"Don't even start." They both said, making Edric's expression and ears drop. He sighed, leaning against the corner of the sound board. 

"You two are no fun..." He muttered, barely loud enough for me to hear. I went back into the room, finding Luz and Amity laughing. Luz was struggling to breathe, tightly holding her sides. 

"Okay okay..." She started, pausing to laugh some more. "We've sure been drumming up quite a commotion haven't we?" Luz wheezed, nearly falling over in the process. 

I rolled my eyes, grabbing my bass and giving it a quick strum to gain their attention. They both looked over at me, Luz wiping her eyes. "Are you two done? We've still gotta practice." 

"Right right, practice." Luz said, her chuckles slowly fading out. She grabbed her sticks and gave the drums a few taps before smiling. "Where do you wanna start Amity?" The drummer asked as she twirled her stick in her hand, trying to be cool. That lasted a solid ten seconds before she smacked herself in the face with one.

Luz hissed, rubbing the part of her face where she got hit. "Let's go back to 505, I feel like that one needs a bit more practice." Nodding, the three of us started practicing once again. 

We rolled through the songs a few more times, practicing for a couple more hours. When we finished the song, Amity stopped to stretch. "What now?" I asked, popping my fingers. My hands were starting to hurt, but I wasn't going to complain. 

"Honestly, I think that'll be enough for the day." I could see Luz smile, running a hand through her hair. 

"That's good, cause honestly I feel like my arms are gonna fall off." She muttered, lightly shaking her arms a few times before sighing. 

"I'll go get Edric to help you dismantle the drums." Amity said, heading towards the door, I followed after her. We both left the room, Amity motioning at her brother, then towards Luz, where he got the hint and went into the room to help her. 

The two of us made our way to the sound room to drop off our instruments. I lightly nudged her in the back with the head, laughing when she squeaked in response. She turned back to face me, shooting me a glare. 

"You two were flirting~" I teased, watching as her ears went down. Amity shook her head, opening the sound room door and walking inside. 

We placed our instruments in their respective spots. "We weren't flirting." She muttered, avoiding eye contact with me. "We were just joking around." 

"Sure you weren't." I said, sarcasm dripping in my voice. She turned to face me, trying to keep her poker face but failing. "Well, if you weren't flirting with her, she was definitely trying to flirt with you." 

"No she wasn't." I shot her a look, but she quickly avoided eye contact. Rolling my eyes, I pushed her out of the room, almost making her run into Emira. 

"Watch where you're heading Mittens!" She said, Amity holding her hands up defensively before glaring at me. The two of us made our way to the main room, where we found Matt sitting at the table on his scroll. 

I watched as the others dragged the drums out to the storage before they quickly returned empty handed. I flopped down in a chair, pulling out my scroll to check my notifications. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Luz standing in the doorway, popping her back. 

"Well..." She started, stretching her arms out for a moment. "I better head back to the owl house, let Eda know where I why I wasn't there last night." She smiled at all of us, then her eyes widened. 

Luz walked over to Amity and pulled her in a hug. Her hands gripping tightly on the back of Amity's shirt for a moment, then she let go and spun on her heel before giving us a salute. "See you around!" Then, she disappeared. My gaze remained focused on the front door for a moment, then my gaze turned to Amity. 

She was frozen in place, her arms hung loosely at her sides. Her face was going a light shade of red, her ears going down and following in suit. The twins laughed, moving over to her before perching themselves on their sister's shoulders. 

"What's the matter Mittens? Short circuiting?" Edric asked, lightly tapping her temple. She didn't respond, still staring at the door. 

"Hello?" Emira waved a hand in front of her face, still getting no response. Finally, she just shook Amity, which managed to snap her out of her trance. "Mittens get your head out of the clouds before it gets taken by a griffon!" Emira laughed, ruffling her sister's hair. 

Amity however, didn't give a reaction to her actions. Instead, she looked down, bringing her hands up to stare at for a moment. "She smelt so nice..." I could barely hear her mumble, which made her siblings laugh. 

"Mittens that's creepy." Edric chuckled, lightly shoving her shoulder. Amity waved him away, but her expression didn't change. She moved away from both her siblings, then disappeared around the hall, probably going to her room. 

Edric and Emira moved over by me, both of them shaking their heads. "A hug managed to break her, wow." Emira shook her head, but she was smiling.

"Oh it probably did worse than that. She didn't even react when you ruffled her hair." Edric chimed in, I nodded in response. "Little ol' Mittens fell deep in the whirlpool of love." 

"Deeper than the old dead sea trench." I muttered, both the twins nodding. They took a seat by me, pulling out their scrolls. Matt glanced up at the three of us, scowling before standing up, giving us a curt wave, then walking out the front door. 

"How long you think it's gonna be till Mittens accidentally spills?" Edric asked after a bit of time, making me glance up at my scroll. "A week? Two weeks?" 

"No no no no, Mittens is definitely gonna try to plan some sort of confession." Emira said, glancing over at her brother. "You know she can be cool when she wants to be." 

Her brother sighed, making his scroll disappear before he folded his arms over his chest. "Fine, how long do you think until she goes through with her confession?" 

"Three weeks tops." Emira stated without hesitation, turning her gaze back down to her scroll. "Real question is, will Luz last that long?" 

"She might." I said, making my scroll disappear. "I mean, we all know that she's kinda oblivious." The twins nodded. "Then again, who says she won't confess first?" 

That made both of them perk up, their eyes widening slightly. "You've got a point." Edric mumbled, tapping his chin for a moment before smirking. "Alright, let's place our bets now. Who's gonna confess first?" 

"Mittens." Emira stated, making Edric nod before turning to me. 

"Luz." I said, no hesitation at all. Luz is impulsive, so if she wanted, she could just quickly spit out her feelings. Amity however, is more collected, and with that, she's also a lot more hesitant. She could make a great plan, but she'd probably back out last minute. 

"I think Luz will too." Edric said, shooting a sly smirk towards his sister. "Alright, these are our final answers right?" The two of us nodded, which Edric clapped his hands together. "Great!"

"How much are we betting here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the ex drummer. He froze for a moment, his eyes darting around for a minute while he thought. 

"Let's say.... I don't know, fifty snails?" He suggested, but Emira shook her head. 

"Seventy-five or no deal." Edric considered it for a moment, then he sighed. He held both his hand out, waiting for the two of us to take one, which we did, shaking on the deal. 

"Shouldn't we have done an oath?" I asked, but Edric shook his head. 

"It's not that serious." He chuckled, but Emira looked over at him. 

"If you try to cheat me out of my money, I'll cheat you of your life." She threatened, and even though Edric laughed, I couldn't tell if she was serious or not. 

Suddenly, the studio front door opened, and there stood Luz, who was practically radiating with excitement. "Hey guys!" She said, bouncing up and down. Looking around, her expression dropped for a moment. "Where's Amity?" 

"Down in her room. What's up?" I asked, her excitement never wavering. She squealed, struggling to pull something from her pocket. 

"I got a scroll!" Luz exclaimed, finally managing to pull it out and showing it off. "I wanted to give Amity my number so then it's easier to communicate!" Then, before we could say anything else, Luz darted off down the hall. 

The three of us fell silent for a moment, then Emira spoke up. "Oh gods, Mittens is gonna explode one of these days." 

"Wanna bet she'll be up late messaging her?" Edric chuckled, keeping his voice low just in case one of them came back. 

"No doubt about it." His twin responded. We all fell silent when we heard their voices getting louder down the hall, then Luz and Amity appeared, both beaming. 

"Wait! Let me see your scroll!" Luz tried to reach out for Amity's scroll, but she playfully pulled away. 

"Why do you need it?" She asked, chuckling as she pushed Luz away. 

"You got to set your contact name in my scroll, I wanna do the same for you!" Luz managed to nab Amity's scroll, quickly tapping a few buttons. Amity didn't try to stop her, rather, she just playfully rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. "And, done!" 

Luz handed her scroll back to the witch, a big smile on her face. Amity's eyes scanned it over for a minute, then they widened. While she stood in place, Luz bounded over to the three of us, quickly chattering and getting us to tell her our scroll numbers. 

Once she managed to get all of them, she made sure each of them had dorky nicknames. Then, just as fast as she arrived, she disappeared again, saying she'd meet up with us tomorrow. 

"Wow." I said when she left, blinking a few times. "She's really sporadic, isn't she?" The twins hummed in response, nodding their heads. I looked over to Amity, who was still standing in the spot she was at before. "Am? You okay over there?" 

"I'm peachy." She managed to say, smiling from ear to ear. Her siblings looked over at her, both of them glancing at each other before back at her. 

"Alright Mittens, you're using Luz's phrases, so what did she do?" Amity slowly walked over towards us, her eyes glued to her scroll. 

"She put a heart at the end of her contact!" She said, her excitement taking complete control of her voice. I could see her faintly bouncing out of excitement, but she quickly cleared her throat, putting on a poker face. 

"And what did you put for your contact in her scroll?" I folded my arms over her chest, chuckling at her hesitation. 

"The same thing..." She muttered, turning away from me. Both Edric and Emira busted out laughing, lightly hitting Amity on the back. 

"Oh gods Mittens, you're priceless." Edric managed to get out, making Amity tense up. 

"What? It felt weird to just put my name, so I added the bit at the end of it! Luz did the same thing so it doesn't mean anything!" I shook my head, honestly I couldn't tell who was more oblivious, her or Luz. 

"Whatever makes you feel better Mittens." Emira said as she ruffled her hair, making Amity scowl. Then, she stood up, leaning on Amity's shoulder for a moment. "Well, we might as well head home." I nodded, standing up as well. 

Me, Edric, and Emira struck up a conversation, but Amity stayed silent, still staring at her scroll. We all made it to the door, exiting the studio and making sure to lock the door behind us. 

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." I waved to the twins, then nudged Amity. "Hey Am? Don't stay up all night texting your crush." Her ears went down as she tensed up, then she nudged me back. 

"Don't stay up all night texting your girlfriend." She retorted, which only made me roll my eyes.

"Whatever." I gave her a wave, and she waved back to me before we headed off in our respective directions, finally going home for the night.


	11. Creep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should say, just so it isn't confusing, yes there has been a time skip. Honestly I couldn't think of a way to write like, four other practices without it being repetitive and boring, so yeah. 
> 
> Other than that, enjoy!

Luz POV:

The last few days before the gig, or as I liked to call it, the tense days. 

I sat at the table, tapping a pencil against my chin. Practice had just wrapped up an hour ago, and I decided to spend my time tweaking my song.

Everyone in the band was a little tense, hence why I call it the tense days. Matt's already short temper practically disintegrated into nothing, meaning he'd snap at anybody in the blink of an eye, which also meant that the Blight twins would mess with him a lot more. 

The twins tried to cover up how nervous they were with their pranks and jokes, but whenever they got the chance, they were testing the special effects that were going to be used during the show. Every once and awhile I'd go out to watch them, noticing how hard they were pushing themselves to make the effects perfect. 

Boscha seemed a lot more jittery than usual, drumming her fingers on the table or bouncing her leg whenever she sat still, and whenever we start to practice, I noticed how she pauses for a moment, taking a few deep breaths before we start.

And then there was Amity, who tried to hide how she felt behind her poker face mask. She constantly seemed to be moving, acting almost like a shark. If she paused, even for a moment, you could tell by the subtle look on her face that her brain was going a million miles per minute. 

There was something else I noticed while observing Amity, some other emotion swirling through her head that I couldn't quite catch. What I did catch was that her siblings were able to pick up on whatever it was, and would tease her constantly for it. 

Edric walked by, leaning against the table and pulling me out of my head. "Hey Luz." He glanced down at my notebook, his eyes scanning over the lines for a moment. "How's it going?" I smiled, setting my pen down in the middle of the notebook. 

"It's going good!" I chirped, making him smirk. "Just thought I'd unwind a little after practice y'know?" He nodded, leaning onto the table. 

"I get that." Edric muttered, his ears twitching for a moment before falling still. "Hey uh, question, have you seen Mittens around?" I shook my head, making him sigh. 

"Whatcha need her for?" I asked him, curiosity seeping into my brain. 

"Need to know what colors she wants for the smoke effect we're doing for some of the songs." He said, turning to face me with a smile. His eyes drifted down to my notebook, then his eyes lit up. "Hey wait! Do you mind if I see what you've got down?" Pushing the notebook in his direction, he quickly picked it up and cracked it open. "Little Miss Perfect?"

"It seemed fitting." I shrugged. "That one's almost done, but I've still gotta run it through with Amity. There's another one on the other page, but that one's just bare bones right now." Edric nodded, his eyes darting across the lines. I could see the smile on his face get a little bigger, then he chuckled, taking the pencil out of the middle and holding it in his hand. 

"Mind if I make a small note? It'll be in the corner." The twin asked, lightly tapping the notebook. 

"Go on ahead!" I told him, watching his smile turn into a smirk. He quickly jotted down his note, making sure to do it lightly. Then, he put the pencil back in the book and closed it, passing the notebook back to me. 

He got off the table, shooting me a small salute. "Welp, I better go find Mittens. See ya around!" Edric then disappeared around the corner, searching for the singer. My eyes lingered at the hallway for a moment, then I looked down at what he wrote. 

"Song = Mitten's point of view." It read, making me raise an eyebrow. I glanced at the title, then some of the lyrics before looking back at the note. 

"What does he mean by that?" I muttered, staring at his note before shrugging it off. I can remember Amity's siblings calling her that nickname every once and awhile, so maybe that's what he meant.

Then again, maybe he did mean the lyrics...

But, before I could look too much into it, someone took my attention by leaning on my shoulder. "Luz! Are you busy?" Looking over, I saw Boscha, who wore a small smirk on her face. 

"Not really, what's up?" I asked, closing my notebook. 

"Well, Emira wants everyone to take a break, saying we all just to take a breather y'know? You wanna come?" Boscha motioned to the Blight siblings, who were having a quiet conversation with one another. 

I nodded my head, giving her a bright smile. "Matt! C'mon we're going!" Edric called out, making me jump at how loud he was. A loud groan came from down the hallway, then Matt slowly came out, dragging his feet the entire time. 

"Do I really have to go with you guys?" His voice was dripping with annoyance. The twins shot him a look, then moved over towards him, grabbing him by the shoulders and dragging him forward. 

"Yes, you do. You need a break." He dug his heels in the ground, desperately trying to get them to stop. Finally, they let go of him and sighed, then drew a quick spell, making him float in the air. 

Matt yelped in surprise, his reaction making the twins laugh. "No point in fighting it dude." Edric chuckled, which Matt muttered something to him in response before crossing his arms over his chest. 

They dragged him over to the three of us, then canceled out their spell, making him drop to the floor. "Where are we even going?" He asked, glaring at the twins. They shrugged, shooting him their signature smirks. 

"Probably the market." Emira said, folding her arms. "Nowhere too fancy." Matt scoffed, rolling his eyes before looking at his scroll. 

"Great. Maybe while I'm there I can find a decent sword to slash you guys with." I could hear Amity snort, but she quickly covered it up. The Blight twins raised an eyebrow, then chuckled and shook their heads. 

"Yeah, and hey, we might even drop by the griffon pens. I heard they need a new clown for the griffons to play with." Edric quipped, ruffling Matt's hair. Matt hissed, swatting at Edric's hand. 

"Alright you three, enough." Boscha muttered, shooting a glare at them before nudging Amity to gain her attention. "C'mon Am, control your siblings." She joked, making Amity roll her eyes. However, Edric and Emira laughed. 

They moved away from Matt and moved towards Amity. "Yeah Mittens, try to control us." Edric taunted before breaking out into chuckles. Amity scoffed, drawing a spell in the blink of an eye that made Edric go limp. Then, he straightened up, his arms limp at his sides and his eyes glowing pale purple. 

"As you were saying Ed?" She put on a strained smirk, waving her hand around for a moment. I moved over towards her, watching as she controlled her brother with her magic. 

"That I'm an idiot." He said in a monotone voice, raising a hand up to poke his temple the same way a puppet would before Amity made him ruffle his hair. His voice was overlapped with Amity's, giving it a distorted tone. Amity suddenly winced, quickly waving her hand and making Edric snap out of it. Edric stumbled, groaning as he brought his hands up to his head.

Amity brought a hand up to her head as well, using the other to grab onto my shoulder. Her knees were shaking slightly as a low whine came from her. I held her up, making sure she didn't fall to the floor. She was paler than before, which clearly wasn't a good sign.

"I forget how much power that spell takes..." She mumbled, her golden eyes meeting with mine, sending a small electric feeling to travel up my spine. It didn't matter how many times it happened, but I never got sick of that feeling.

Edric straightened out, rubbing his temples. "Geez Mittens..." He mumbled, blinking a few times before rubbing his eyes. "I didn't mean actually control me." Amity gave him a dry laugh, also straightening out as well, but she kept her hand on my shoulder. 

"Better you than me." Emira said, placing a hand on her brother's shoulder. He turned to her, then narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Anyways, let's head out before Mittens gets a surge of power and makes me do something dumb." 

"Wait what'd she make me do?" Edric asked, a hint of concern in his voice. However, his twin didn't answer and just walked out the door, Matt and Boscha following after her. "Em what'd she make me do?" 

I stayed by Amity's side, and I noticed she seemed to be hesitating. "Are you okay?" I asked, and she nodded her head. 

"I'm fine, that just took a lot out of me." She muttered, taking a small, shaky step forward. Then, taking a deep breath, she followed after the others, motioning for me to follow her. 

Quickly walking after her, we walked side by side in silence, both of us staring at the others far ahead of us. Eventually, I glanced over at Amity, noticing she was still trembling slightly. That worried me, but it didn't seem too serious, so I managed to push my worry away.

"That was a pretty powerful spell." I commented, making her ears perk up slightly. She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "How long did that one take to master?" 

"Not very long." She said, sticking her hands in her pockets. "Honestly, you'd be surprised how easy it is to learn." 

"Well of course you'd consider it easy, you're Amity Blight." My comment made her chuckle and shake her head. 

"No Luz, I'm not saying that because I was top student, I'm saying that because that spell really is easy to learn. I could teach you and you'd have it down by your second try." She smiled at me, then turned her gaze to the floor. "But, while it may be easy to learn, it's not easy to use." 

"Because you have to tap into someone's mind?" She mulled it over, then just sighed. 

"That's part of it, yes." Amity glanced up at the others, my gaze following her own and noticing that we were almost to the market. "Usually, witches who do those kinds of spells have a special relic or charm to help ample a specific section of their magic so that they won't hurt themselves while performing the spell." 

I stared at her in awe for a moment, then I whistled. "Magic is so cool." I said, making Amity laugh. "Wouldn't it be scary though? Someone could just have one of those relics and take control of anybody they wanted." 

"That's why the relics are far and few in between, not to mention pretty illegal to own unless you're up in the high ranks." I nodded my head, messing with my fingers. "There's a lot of different kinds of relics actually, one for each of the covens, ones that'll cancel anyone's magic in a certain radius, ones that'll give you unimaginable strength." She listed off, I nodded to each of them. 

"Once again, magic is so cool." I muttered, thinking about everything she said. We both fell silent again, catching up with the others at the edge of the market. 

"Took you two long enough." Boscha muttered, tapping something on her scroll before making it disappear. "It's almost like you two were stalling on purpose." Amity shook her head, giving Boscha a light shove. 

"Amity was teaching me about relics and stuff, we might've slowed down because it was super interesting!" I said, watching as Amity's brother shook his head, placing a hand on top of Amity's head. 

"Why am I not surprised?" He asked, making Amity just roll her eyes. "Anyways, I wanna go to the Snack Shack, anyone wanna join me?" Everyone shook their heads, making Edric just sigh. "You guys are missing out!" 

Matt glanced at us, then started to walk into the market, leaving the rest of us behind. Edric watched him as he left, then followed after him a couple of minutes later. Someone placed a hand on my shoulder, making me jump slightly. Turning, I was met with Emira. 

"Well, I need Luz for a little bit, so I'm gonna steal her, that means you two can go together." She pointed to Amity and Boscha, who nodded in response. For a moment, it almost looked like Amity was disappointed, but I shrugged it off. 

"We'll meet up at the owl lady's stand in an hour or so, sound good to you guys?" We all nodded, then Amity clasped her hands together. "Great, now let's get going." Boscha instantly grabbed Amity's wrist and started dragging her into the market, making me chuckle. 

Emira and I slowly made our way into the market, strolling through the stands and gawking at some of the items for sale. "So why'd you want to steal me?" I finally asked while she was looking at some kind of skull. 

"To spare you from Boscha. That witch is crazy when it comes to shopping in the market. I didn't want to get stuck with her, so I pawned her off to Mittens." She stated, lightly tapping the skull but quickly pulling away when it started leaking some purple fog. "Besides, Mittens can handle her." 

"And you can't?" I joked, following her as she walked away. 

"Gods no." There was a hint of exasperation in her voice. She brought her hands up to her temples, giving them a slight rub. "Last time she dragged us here, we were here for hours because she just had to go to every stand." I couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. 

"Sounds exhausting." I chuckled, my gaze turning away from the twin and going to a stand full of an assortment of bones, some the size of half my body, others barely the size of a coin. 

"It was exhausting." She muttered, groaning softly. We both passed by the Snack Shack, where we saw Edric stuffing his face with some weird food that semi resembled a cookie. He glanced up at us, then gave us an enthusiastic wave. 

I waved back, but Emira just shook her head. We continued walking through the stands, Emira managed to find and buy a few things she liked, and despite my insisting, she bought me a really pretty dark purple flower that I liked. The flower honestly reminded me of a rose, just with less thorns and with more pointed petals. 

Glancing at the time, I nudged Emira while she was looking over a necklace with a giant fang as the center piece. "It's almost been an hour, we should go find Eda's stand." She nodded her head, but she didn't take her eyes off the necklace. 

"Let me get this, then we can go." I nodded my head, then started to rock on my heels while I waited. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see this guy leaning against a pole before he walked over towards us, eyeing Emira the entire time. 

He was maybe an inch or two taller than I was, with silver blue hair poking out from under his black hood, pale skin, and yellow, snake like eyes. When he smirked, I noticed his teeth were sharper than most witches here on the Boiling Isles. 

The guy let out a loud wolf whistle, moving over to Emira's side. "Hey there~" His tone was so sickeningly sweet it made me tense up, my hands balling into tight fists. "How come I've never seen a hottie like you around here?" 

Emira side glanced him, but she didn't say anything. Rather, she just continued her transaction with the stand owner. That however, seemed to annoy the guy, making his lip twitch for a moment before it settled back down into his smile. 

His whole demeanor was making me uneasy, it didn't matter that he wasn't talking to me, he was still throwing me off. Emira thanked the stand owner, then turned away from the guy, motioning for me to start walking. 

We started walking away, but he followed us, appearing by Emira's side. "C'mon sweetie, you don't have to play hard to get. I can tell you wanna talk to me." That made Emira freeze in place, putting on a poker face. Turning towards the guy, she eyed him up and down. 

"Honestly, I don't think I do." She said coldly, which only made him laugh. 

"Oh come on, I know I'm your type." Emira instantly started to laugh, shaking her head. She turned to me, still laughing as she pointed to him.

"Do you hear this guy?" Another fit of giggles hit her, then she cleared her throat and turned back to him. "Sorry but no, you aren't my type. However, I am very flattered." I could tell she was lying, and based on the look that flashed across the guy's face, so could he. 

He grabbed her wrist, taking her off guard. "Baby, there's no need to lie to me." I could tell Emira was tensing up based on how quickly her ears went down, clearly wracking her brain on what to do. I stood frozen in place, not knowing what I should do. "I can tell based on the look in your eyes that you're falling already. After all, I'm your biggest fan~" 

I knew the look in her eyes wasn't whatever he was seeing, rather it was probably fear. But, his statement that he was her biggest fan caught me off guard. He had to know who she was if he was saying that. 

Emira started to sputter, struggling to find something to say to him. Then, the creep started to lean in. Emira tried to lean back, but she could only go back so far before she reached her limit. 

Now my body snapped into motion, quickly getting behind the guy and yanking back on him, hard. That managed to get him to let go of Emira. I wasn't about to let some creeper mess with my friend. He stumbled, struggling to not fall flat on the floor. When he managed to straighten out, he growled, snapping his head in my direction. 

His yellow eyes met with mine, his pupils slimming down to thin slits. "What's your problem?" He jabbed a finger in my chest, making me flinch slightly. Swallowing, I puffed out my chest and stared him down, struggling not to crack. 

"You need to back off." I stated, furrowing my eyebrows when he started to laugh.

"And who the fuck do you think you are?" He placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a painful squeeze. I smacked his hand away, making him pull his hand back to his chest. Glaring at him, I took a step closer to him.

"I'm Luz Noceda. Now back off." Giving the creep a forceful shove, I managed to get him to fall to the floor. Before he could get back up, I spun on my heel and started to walk away, Emira following after me. 

After we took a few steps away, I looked back at him, finding him still on the floor. Sticking out my tongue, I quickly flipped him off then turned forward again, folding my arms tightly over my chest. Both of us stayed silent for a moment, listening closely to tell if he was following us or not. 

Luckily for us, he wasn't. 

Emira let out a few nervous chuckles, slowly breaking down into a full fit of laughter. "Oh my gods, that's the weirdest interaction I've had in awhile." She managed to say, her ears finally going back up.

"That guy was a total creep." I muttered, relaxing my arms. "Have you guys ever seen him before?" 

She shook her head, adjusting her bag to be more on her shoulder. "Never. he's probably been to our shows before, but I don't remember ever seeing his face." Then, she froze, placing a hand on my shoulder to stop me. "And hey, thanks." 

"No need to thank me. Honestly I feel like I should apologize for not jumping in sooner." Emira shook her head, giving my shoulder a light pat. 

"Don't apologize. You shouldn't have needed to jump in at all, I should've just used my magic to get him away." Another nervous laugh escaped the twin as we continued to walk forward, Eda's stand not too far ahead. "But, because of how fast everything went, he stunned me." 

I could see Edric nudge Boscha and Amity, pointing towards the two of us. "Hey guys!" I called out, sending them an enthusiastic wave. Edric waved back, Amity just playfully shook her head, and Boscha just looked back down at her scroll. 

"How long have you guys been waiting here?" Emira asked when we got closer, Boscha glanced at the time on her scroll. 

"About ten minutes. Where were you guys?" She asked, making her scroll disappear. Amity glanced at the two of us, her eyes lingering in my direction for a moment. 

Emira just shrugged, sending Boscha a smirk. "We we're just strolling the market. Well, that and we had to take care of something." I could see Edric and Amity raise an eyebrow. 

"Take care of what?" The youngest Blight asked, tilting her head slightly. I fell silent, unsure on how exactly I should tell them what happened, but Emira was quick to speak. 

"I'll tell you about it later Mittens." Emira quickly ruffled Amity's hair, making her roll her eyes before struggling to fix it. Boscha then asked the twin a question, gaining her attention and making her move away from Amity. Edric was talking with Eda, who nodded her head in a bored manner to whatever he was saying. 

My hand slowly went down to the flower, which was surprisingly unscathed after the encounter with the guy. Staring at Amity for a moment, my hand tightly gripped the stem of the flower, then a light bulb went off. 

"Hey Amity?" Before she could turn towards me, I held the flower out in her direction. She looked up at me, then down to the flower, her eyes widening in surprise. "I thought you might like this."

She slowly reached out to the flower, her fingers wrapping around the stem like it was a fragile piece of glass. "Thank you Luz." Her voice was soft, both her golden eyes glittering as she eyed the flower. 

"Honestly you shouldn't be thanking me." I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck. "You should really thank Emira, she's the one that-" 

"Dragged her around the market!" Emira quickly butted in, leaning on my shoulder. "Honestly, if I didn't force her to come with me to all those different stands, she wouldn't have found that flower for you."

I looked up at Emira, her eyes meeting with mine as she sent me a wink. "You dragged her around?" Boscha folded her arms over her chest, giving Emira a suspicious look. However, Emira gave an enthusiastic nod, getting off my shoulder and clasping her hands together. 

"Yeah, she's got good taste." The Blight twin gave me a slight nudge, then when she walked by Amity, who was still transfixed by the flower, and gave her a pat on the shoulder. The pink haired witch instantly started asking the twin questions, only receiving vague answers in response. 

While the three of them started chatting, Amity and I sat in silence. I couldn't help but stare, feeling the heat rising to my cheeks the longer I looked at the beautiful witch in front of me. "Do you like it?" I finally asked, her eyes snapping up to meet mine. 

"I love it." She muttered softly, gently petting a few of the petals with her fingertips. Then, she mouthed something else, a blush rising up to her cheeks as her eyes slowly moved back down to the flower. 

Taking a few steps closer, I looked down at the flower in her hands, another idea coming to mind. "I'll tuck it behind your ear if you want. Make it look good y'know?" Amity looked back up at me, then gave me a small grin, nodding and passing the flower back to me. "Want it behind the left or right?" 

"Left." She said, instantly putting down her left ear. Glancing over at her right ear, I noticed it was still standing upright.

"You can do that with your ears?" Amity nodded her head, quickly alternating between raising and lowering both of her ears. That made the two of us break out into a small fit of giggles. "Does that just come naturally, or do you have to learn how to do it?" I asked in between chuckles. 

Amity put her left ear back down, and I carefully stuck the flower behind her ear, fiddling with a few of the petals to make them look good. "You have to learn how to do it. It's like learning how to raise each eyebrow separately."

I lightly tapped the tip of her ear, silently letting her know to put her ear back up. She did, which now meant the flower would most likely to stay in place. "There!" I took a step back, smiling at the girl in front of me. 

Amity gave me a bright smile, a pink blush appearing on her pale skin. The flower glittered brightly in the sunlight, sending soft sparkles across her face. Just looking at her was taking my breath away. 

"You're beautiful." I muttered in a trance, making her eyes snap open in shock. Then, it hit me what I just said out loud. The heat instantly rushed to my cheeks, coating my face in red as I scrambled for something to say. 

"Thanks Luz." Amity finally stammered, putting on a smirk with half lidded eyes. "You aren't too bad yourself." She reached up and ruffled my hair, making me laugh. The witch pulled her hand away, staring at me for a moment as her eyes glazed over. Then, she shook her head, letting out a soft, sort of nervous chuckle. 

"Are you two gonna keep flirting or are you gonna go join your friends?" I let out a startled scream, quickly turning to our right. There was Eda, leaning on her table with a devilish look in her eyes. 

"We aren't flirting!" We both squeaked, making Eda shake her head. She stood up, folding her arms over her chest. 

"Sure you aren't." My mentor snorted, softly shaking her head again. "Now get going, you're blocking all the suckers from buying my stuff. Mama needs to make some money, so go join your friends." We both nodded, then started to speed walk after the rest of the group, Eda laughing behind us. 

The two of us said nothing and caught up to the rest of the group, who teased us for taking so long. Amity's siblings pointed out the flower, shooting me subtle smirks before poking fun at their sister. 

But that didn't last long when Boscha noticed the necklace that Emira had bought earlier, and when Edric pointed out that it wasn't her style, they started poking fun at her. They teased her, asking if the necklace was a gift for her crush. 

All of us slowly made our way back to the studio, Amity eventually making her way by my side to strike up a conversation. Most of our talk was about the show in a couple of days, Amity bring up certain times that I was sure were important, but I knew I wouldn't remember them. 

By the time the six of us made it to the studio, the sun hung low in the sky, casting the Boiling Isles in it's golden orange light. Edric whistled, staring out at the sunset for a moment. "View always looks good here at the studio, don't it?" I could hear Emira and Boscha agree with him from inside the studio. 

I stayed outside for a moment, watching everyone else go back inside, Amity going in last. She lingered by the door for a couple of moments, staring out at the sunset. I watched her, noticing how the light reflected in her eyes. 

"You're right." I softly muttered, smiling when I felt that familiar fluttering feeling rise in my chest. "The view does look good at the studio." 

Amity then looked over at me, waving at me to come inside. "C'mon, let's go practice a few of the songs one more time before we call it a night." 

"Coming!" I called, jogging over to the door. And, as my luck would have it, right before I got to the door I managed to trip over a rock. Yelping, I braced for the impact of the hard dirt floor, squeezing my eyes shut. 

But instead of the floor, I felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist and upper back, making sure I didn't crash to the ground. 

Barely opening one of my eyes, I was met with Amity's shocked face only a few inches from mine. 

If this wasn't a scene from some fanfiction I've written before, I don't know what is. 

"Are you alright?" She asked in a steady voice, her eyes never looking away from mine. 

"Totally!" I said in a tone much shakier than hers. She helped me stand up, her hand still lingering around my lower back for a moment before she moved it away. I held the door open, motioning for her to go in. "After you my fair maiden." 

Amity smiled, playfully rolling her eyes before walking inside. I quickly followed after her, making sure the studio door closed behind us. The youngest Blight moved into the main room, clapping her hands together. 

"Alright guys, let's finish up the last bit of practice." The rest of the band nodded, getting up and moving to the recording room. Her eyes followed the band as they left, then she looked back at me. 

She gave me a smile, motioning for me to follow the others, then she disappeared into the sound room. I stared at the sound room door for a minute, then slipped into the recording room where everyone else was chatting merrily. 

I smiled, instantly getting ambushed by the twins. "So cutie, you ready for your first show?" Emira asked me, a bright smile on her face. 

"Do you mean ready by memorizing the songs or do you mean ready emotionally, cause each of those have a different answer." I answered nervously, glancing down at the floor. 

The twins laughed, both of them lightly ruffling my hair. "Don't worry! You'll be just fine! We promise." Edric said, patting my back. The door to the recording room was pushed open and Amity walked it, her guitar slung over her shoulder. 

"You guys ready to wrap up the night?" She asked all of us, earning a collective nod. "Well then, why are we just standing here? Let's finish this!"


	12. Late night call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes this chapter!

Amity POV: 

It was always the nights before the shows that stressed me out the most. I paced around in my room, my eyebrows tightly knitted together while my pacing slowly started to put a hole through my floor. 

My thoughts were all over the place, everything that could go right or wrong flying through my head faster than rat worm racers. I groaned, rubbing my temples. All of this stupid stress was giving me a headache. 

"Why am I even worrying? Nothing ever goes wrong." I muttered with a sigh, my gaze landing on the flower Luz gave me a few days ago. I stopped pacing and slowly made my way over to the purple plant, noticing the petals were drooping. 

"Luz... that's why I'm worrying." I said in a softer voice, gently cradling the flower in the palm of my hand. It's not like I thought she was going to bomb on stage, rather, I have no clue how she's reacting to all the stress. 

She's been surprisingly cool these last few days, while everyone else has been tense and struggling, she's still been the same old Luz, enthusiastic and making jokes.

But I couldn't tell if it was all forced. Was she staying positive to try to ease our nerves? Or was she doing it to ease her own? I felt like it could be a mix of both, but I wasn't certain. Then again, maybe it was none of that and she really wasn't stressed at all. Another low sigh escaped me, mentally kicking myself for not asking how she was doing. 

I've gotten so used to how everyone else would react during the last few days that it didn't even cross my mind to check on Luz. "Great going Amity." I growled, running my hands through my hair. "Gee, didn't even think to ask how stressed she is. Fantastic job you nitwit!" 

"No need to beat yourself up Mittens." I jumped, turning to see Emira leaning on my door frame with her arms folded. She moved further into my room, her eyes glancing around for a moment. "But, to be honest, Luz probably is a little stressed. I mean, it is her first show after all. Then again, it's Luz we're talking about here so you never know." 

I shifted my gaze off of my sister and back to the flower, frowning at the drooping petals. Drawing a small rejuvenation spell, I smiled when the petals perked back up. Emira's footsteps moved closer to me and I could sense she was peering over my shoulder. 

With a small laugh, she lightly patted my back. "Y'know, you can do an embalming spell right?" Before I could say anything, she already cast a spell on the purple flower. "It's easier than doing a bunch of little rejuvenation spells. And it's probably a lot safer if your trying to preserve the flower." 

I nodded my head, still staring at the flower for a moment before turning around and moving towards my bed, taking a seat. Emira followed after me, taking a seat next to me, clasping her hands in her lap. 

"So what did you need?" I asked, Emira's eyes widening slightly. She paused, staring at my floor for a moment, I followed her gaze, wondering what she was looking at. 

"I just came to check on you. I know how you get." She laughed, giving me a soft nudge. "Also, you really do pace a lot huh? You've worn down that part of the floor." Emira pointed to where I was pacing earlier, giving me another nudge. 

We both went quiet again and I couldn't help but tap my fingers together. Then, taking deep breath, Emira leaned back a little more on my bed. "Are you nervous?" I asked softly, not looking to see her reaction. 

"Nervous for you guys or nervous about how the effects are gonna work?" She asked back with a light chuckle. 

"Just in general." Emira hummed, not giving me a response for a minute. I looked back over at her, watching as she tapped a finger against her chin. Then, she shook her head.

"Not really no." She said, giving me a small smile. 

"Why's that?" I asked. 

"Because there's nothing to worry about." My sister chirped, tilting her head slightly. "Now, can I ask you a question?" I hesitated for a moment, then nodded my head. "Alright, what's got you so worried? I know you normally get stressed out before shows, but it's never been this bad, so what's up?" 

Her question made me freeze up a little, turning away from her. She stayed silent, awaiting my answer. "I guess... I guess I'm mostly worrying about Luz. Don't get me wrong, I don't at all think that she's gonna bomb on stage." I quickly added, Emira nodding her head. "But I'm just worried about how she's doing." 

"Wow, you're worried about how someone doing?" Edric suddenly chimed in, poking his head in my room. Emira cleared her throat, shooting my brother an intense glare. He quickly realized that he shouldn't have said anything and held his hands up in defense. "Sorry, not the time to joke. That's my bad." 

He walked into the room, taking a seat on my free side and placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'm surprised you aren't asleep yet." Emira said, still glaring at Edric. Our brother shrugged. 

"I heard you guys talking and wanted to see what was going on." He then looked down at me, his eyes softening. "But Mittens, if you're worrying about how Luz is holding up, you really shouldn't be. She's been pretty much the same, maybe just a bit more nervous than usual, but other than that, there's nothing wrong." 

"But what if she's covering up how she's actually feeling?" I threw my hands up, leaning all the way back on my bed. Both my siblings looked at one another, then Edric started to laugh. 

"Mittens, we all know that Luz is pretty vocal about how she feels. If something was bugging her, she would've definitely said something. So I doubt she's masking how she's feeling." Emira nodded to what her twin was saying. 

And he was right, Luz may be a bit naive and a little impulsive, but she wasn't a doormat. If something was bothering her, she would say something about it. This situation would be no different. 

I sat back up so that I was on the same level as my siblings. Edric wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into a side hug, giving my upper arm a rub. "You're just looking a little too much into it sis." He said with a smirk. 

Emira also got in the hug, pushing me against Edric. "Oh but little Mittens is worried for her crush~" She teased, giving my head a pat. I groaned and struggled to free my arms, then I pushed the two of them away from me, making them break out into laughter. 

They both ruffled my hair and stood up, giving me their signature smirks. "You two just love to do that, don't you?" I muttered, folding my arms over my chest. My siblings turned to one another, smiling the entire time. 

"Yep! You've got some of the best reactions." Edric chirped, placing a finger gun under his chin. "Not as good as Matty's though." I had to stifle a laugh, a small smile finding it's way on my face. 

His eyes widened when I did that and he looked excitedly towards Emira. "Look at that Ed, you managed to get her to crack a smile." She said, placing a hand on her hip. "Anyways, we'll be heading off for bed. Don't let your worries keep you up all night, alright?" 

I nodded my head, giving the two of them a small wave goodbye. "Seriously Mittens, we can't have our lead singer out cold at the show!" Edric said, spinning on his heel and making his way out of the room, Emira following after him. "Night sis!" 

"Night guys." I said, hoping they would close the door behind them. Luckily for me, they did. Sighing, I glanced towards my window, noticing the silvery light from the moon that peeked into my room. 

Getting up, I moved over to the window, taking a seat in the cold sill. I let one of my legs hang off the sill and I leaned against the other, staring out at the sky. The air around me was calm, helping my mind start to relax. 

My gaze slowly drifted down towards the town, noticing the dim lights of the market. "Wonder if there's a nice spot for stargazing... at least, a nice spot that doesn't have a high risk of something attacking you." I sat up, blinking a few times. "Does Luz even like stargazing?" 

I spent a bit more time in my window sill, debating with myself if Luz would actually like stargazing or not. But, before I could come to a clear answer, I was startled by the sound of my scroll.

It went off again, it's unique tone echoing around my room. There was only one person I set with that ringtone, making sure I'd know exactly who it was. I quickly jumped out of the window sill and picked up my scroll, a giant smile finding its way on my face when it went off once again. 

"Hey Amity!" One message read, making my heart flutter. "Are you up?" A sudden loud clatter came from downstairs, making me jump, my scroll nearly flying out of my hands. 

"Sorry Mittens!" My siblings yelled, their voices muffled. I sighed, slowly shaking my head. Turning my gaze back down to my scroll, I read over the last message. 

"If you aren't up it's fine! If you're asleep right now then we can talk in the morning <3" The heart. That damned heart somehow managed to suck all the air from my lungs, leaving me with a stupidly tight feeling in my chest. 

"She's gonna be the death of me." I gasped, quickly typing out a message. "Yeah I'm up, what's up?" I hesitated for a moment, then clicked send, squealing softly. 

I took a deep breath, quickly gaining my composure. "It's just a text Amity. Not like it's the first time you guys have text each other, calm down." I told myself, watching as Luz's name popped up, showing that she was typing out a message. 

Finally, my scroll pinged, sending small jolts of electricity up my spine and a giddy smile on my face. "Just thought I'd see if you were up since I can't sleep, see if you wanted to chat." I glanced at the time, seeing it was only a little past ten. 

"Sure, but not for long. The show's tomorrow you know." I sent back, slowly leaning back onto the headboard. There was a slight pause, then her name popped up again. 

"Hey wait, wanna call?" That made me freeze, I blinked a few times, wondering what I should say back. 

"That would be nice <3" I put, but then quickly deleted. It sounded too desperate. 

"Yeah sure, why not?" Nope, not that either. 

"Sure." 

I stared at the message for a moment, my thumb hovering over the send button while I debated if it sounded okay. With a sigh, I hit send, waiting for her to respond. 

There was another brief pause, then my scroll suddenly started buzzing, making me jump. It pulled up Luz's contact and photo, which I had set as one of the photos from when she auditioned, showing me that she was trying to call. I quickly picked up the call, putting Luz on speaker. 

"Heya Amity! Can you hear me?" I winced slightly at her volume, wondering why she was being so loud. 

"Yeah I can hear you." I muttered, hearing a lot of shifting coming from her end. 

"Alright, hold on a second..." More shifting sounds followed before they stopped. "How do you...? Wait, is it this button?" My scroll suddenly switched to black, meaning that she was doing a video call now. "King move your tail!" 

There was some kind of squeak, then she started bickering with someone who spoke with a squeaky voice, which I'm pretty sure belonged to that demon. While she did that, I turned on my own camera and ran a hand through my hair, hoping it looked kind of presentable. 

Finally, her camera cleared up and showed her sitting in what I assumed to be her room. Her hair was messy and she had dirt smudged on her clothes, but she wore a bright smile, her hands holding her shins as she gently rocked back and forth. 

"What happened to you?" I asked. Luz looked down at her clothes, then chuckled, trying to wipe the dirt off. 

"I was just out helping Eda. She needed me to carry in some crates, which I guess they were pretty dirty." She smiled, leaning forward slightly. With a small wave, I made my scroll float in the air in front of me. 

"Looks like it." I muttered, pulling slightly at the collar of my shirt. Luz looked around her room, then started to stand up. 

"Actually you know what? I'm gonna get into something more comfortable real quick. Be right back!" She used some kind of blanket to cover her camera, making my scroll go black once again. 

Sighing, I turned my gaze back to my window for a moment, staring at the bit of the moon I could see. While I waited, I slowly started to zone out, my imagination getting the best of me. 

I imagined the two of us laying on a hill, pointing out what we could see in the stars. I pictured her chuckling, interlacing her hand with mine like it was nothing before she pointed out another shape with her free hand. She started to say something, her lips moving but no words coming out. But, then she started to laugh at whatever she just said, and I could hear that loud and clear. 

"Amity!" I jumped, turning my gaze back to my scroll, which now showed Luz tapping her camera. "Oh there we go! Did this freeze or what? I was trying to talk to you for like a minute and you wouldn't respond." I could tell she was trying to balance her scroll on some sort of object to make it stand up. 

"Oh, no it probably didn't freeze. Sorry, I zone out a lot when it gets late." I muttered, a blush rising to my cheeks. I silently hoped that my room was dark enough where she wouldn't see or question the blush. 

Her eyes widened slightly, then her eyebrows furrowed together. "Well if you want we can wait till tomorrow to talk. I don't want to keep you up if you don't want to be." 

"No no no! We can still talk!" I quickly said, a bit of panic in my voice. "I was just waiting for you to come back." She raised an eyebrow, then smirked, leaning her head onto the palms of her hands. 

"I wasn't gone for that long y'know." The look on her face just screamed that she was gonna tease me. I knew it was coming, but I had no idea when. With a sigh, I folded my arms. 

"If you're gonna tease me for it, do it now." I said, rolling my eyes. Luz laughed, making my ears go down slightly. 

There was that amazing sound again.

And with it returned that fluttering feeling.

"You missed me~" She teased in a singsong tone. "The mighty Amity Blight is starting to get attached to this human, aren't you?" I scoffed, shooting her a smirk to try and smother the blush that was slowly getting worse. 

"Who's to say I wasn't already attached when I first met you?" I wanted to say, but I didn't. "And who's to say that you aren't getting attached to this witch?" I said instead, pointing a thumb towards my chest. 

"Hey!" She said with a laugh, clasping a hand over her heart. "There's no need to call me out like that!" That made me laugh, Luz soon doing the same thing. "But hey, you never answered my question." 

"Which would be?" I played dumb, making Luz just shake her head. She leaned forward, nearly face planting when she leaned too far.

"Oh come on you know!" I shook my head, but I couldn't help but crack another smile. "You, the top student of Hexside, now lead singer of a popular band, Amity Blight, is attached to this human that managed to accidentally stumble upon your world two years ago." 

"So what if I have?" Luz gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth as her eyes grew wide. 

"You are attached to me!" She said excitedly, pumping her fists in the air. I blinked a few times, then started to chuckle. 

"I don't know what gave you the idea I wasn't, but okay." Luz started to chuckle as well, adjusting her position so she was lying on her stomach. 

"Oh no don't worry, I already knew you were. I just wanted to hear you say it." She shot me a devilish grin, leaning against her hand. I pretended to be offended, placing a hand over my chest. 

"Wow, you actually stooped that low." Luz posed, shooting me a cat like smile with half lidded eyes. "Oh well, that doesn't matter, cause I got you to admit you were attached to me too." 

Her expression dropped, a soft sound escaping her lips. Both her eyes darted around for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Oh... right." That made me start laughing again, Luz put on a fake pout as she folded her arms over her chest. "I didn't think that would backfire dangit." 

Even though her room was fairly dark, I swear I could see a faint blush on her cheeks. Was it out of irritation? I couldn't tell. "Hey, you set yourself up for that one." I pointed out, making her dramatically turn her head away from me, though that lasted maybe a few seconds before she dropped the fake pout and turned to fully face me. 

"Okay, maybe I did." She admitted, waving one of her hands around. "But that doesn't mean you had to call me out on it." 

"Hey, if you call me out don't expect me to not do the same thing to you." I glanced at the time again, not really caring that it was starting to get late. 

"I'd expect nothing less of you Blight." Luz managed to say before yawning, lightly scratching her side. There was a bit of silence for a moment, so I struggled to think of something to say. 

"Luz?" She glanced up at me, tilting her head slightly as she gave me a low hum. "Are you nervous?" Luz blinked a few times, cracking a small smile. 

"About the show?" I nodded my head. "Oh, well yeah I'm a little nervous, but not as bad as I thought I would be. Why do you ask?" She gave me another soft smile, but then something else got in view of her camera, casting it in black. 

There was a bit of shuffling, then the camera became uncovered, revealing that demon. "Hey! Luz isn't nervous! She's more confident than all you other band losers!" He exclaimed before squeaking, Luz trying to wrestle the scroll out of his paws. 

"King give it back! And don't call Amity a loser!" Luz hissed, yanking her scroll away from the demon. She set it down on the floor, giving me a good view of the ceiling for a moment, then she quickly positioned her scroll back the way it was. Now, she had the tiny demon in her arms, making sure he stayed in place. "Sorry about that." She chuckled. 

"It's alright. Besides, your little demon's right." That made Luz raise an eyebrow, the demon squirming in her grasp in an attempt to escape before finally falling limp with a sigh, accepting his fate. 

"Right about what? Cause last I checked, you guys weren't losers." I rolled my eyes, a low chuckle bubbling up from my throat. 

"I'd say that's a little debatable with my siblings." I argued, rubbing my eyes. "But he's right, you're probably way more confident than the five of us." Luz scoffed, shaking her head as she put a hand on the demon's head, and even though he looked angry at her, it was clear he was enjoying the contact. 

"I really doubt that." She said, her gaze falling down to the demon in her lap, a lopsided grin on her face. "You guys have been doing this a lot longer than I have." 

"That doesn't mean anything, we're all still nervous and jittery no matter how many times we've done this." I watched as the demon in Luz's lap stretched out, yawning before curling up into a small ball and closing his eyes. 

Her eyes glittered as his actions, a long, low squeal coming from her throat. She gently placed a hand on his head, slowly running her hand down his back. The demon gave a content sigh, waving his hand up. "Right there is perfect, keep going." He said, not even opening his eyes. 

"Sure is demanding, isn't he?" I muttered with a smirk, making Luz chuckle. 

"Who are you calling demanding?" He snapped, opening one of his yellow eyes to look at me. Luz brought a hand back up to his head, making him relax. I just shook my head, staring at the two of them. 

We both went quiet for a moment, then Luz got a look of realization. "Wait a second! I just remembered!" She picked the demon up and set him on the floor, a tiny weh sound escaping his muzzle. "I completely forgot to ask you what I should wear tomorrow!" 

"Oh! Right, you need an outfit." I muttered, watching as Luz stood up and walked out of view of the camera. "Well, first things first, what kind of shirts do you even have?" 

"Let me check!" There was the sound of something opening, then a bit of shifting before she came back. "Alright! So I've got this plain white shirt, this one with purple stripes, this black shirt with a skull in the middle..." She hesitated for a minute, staring at the black shirt. "Okay, maybe it's not a skull, it's kinda just a circle with skull markings on it." 

Luz listed off a couple more shirts, showing me each of them. "I'd say wear the skull one." I finally said, making Luz nod. She grabbed the shirt and set it aside, then gathered up the rest and disappeared again. 

"Light or dark jeans?" She asked, her voice slightly muffled. 

"Doesn't matter, though I'd say lighter because of how dark your shirt is." There was a minute of silence, then she popped halfway back into frame, holding up a pair of jeans. They were a really light bluish grey, torn at both knees and messily cuffed at the bottom. 

"Would these work?" She asked and I nodded. "Okay great!" She smiled, once again disappearing off screen. Then, she reappeared, sitting back down on the ground with a smile. "Oh hey wait, can I wear my beanie?" 

"Sure."

"And my flannel?" She raised an eyebrow, a grin on her face. I thought about it for a moment, trying to picture her in the outfit, but I couldn't get a clear image. 

"Maybe. Just bring it tomorrow when we meet up at the studio and I'll tell you what I think." Luz gave me a nod, then yawned, her eyes drooping slightly. 

Suddenly, the demon appeared from under Luz's shirt for tomorrow, a scowl on his face. "Are you gonna throw anything else at me?" He asked Luz, who quickly scrambled to get the clothes off of him. 

"Sorry King!" She mumbled, messily folding her clothes and placing them behind her. He rolled his eyes, then hopped back up in her lap, hitting her knee a few times. "What are you hitting me for?" 

"When are you gonna go to bed? You two have been jabbering for hours now! The King of demons needs his rest and I can't do that with you two talking!" King complained, making Luz pick him up and turn him around to face her. 

"We haven't been talking for that long King." She told him, making me glance at the time. It was just a little after eleven thirty, making me grimace. On one hand, I wanted to wrap up the call so the two of us could at least get a decent amount of sleep, but on the other hand, I didn't want to stop talking to her. 

"We have been talking for about an hour now." I muttered, making Luz turn her attention to me. She blinked a few times, then took a quick glance at the time, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth. 

"Oh shoot, you're right." King stuck his tongue out at Luz, muttering an I told you so under his breath. "Geez, we lost track of time didn't we?" Luz chuckled, lightly bopping King on the nose to get him to stop. I nodded my head. 

"That means we should probably call it off for the night." I said with a yawn, my ears twitching slightly. 

"It's about time you guys wrapped up your call." King mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Enough King." Luz lowly hissed, shooting him a playful glare.

"What? You talk to her enough in a day, you don't need to stay up all night talking to her too." She just rolled her eyes, folding her arms over her chest. "I swear, you're acting like she's your world or something." That made Luz tense up, quickly wrapping her hand over his muzzle with a nervous chuckle, somehow shutting him up.

How did that even work? He doesn't open his mouth to talk.

King quickly tore Luz's hand off his face, shooting her a glare. She shot him one back, but he only shook his head and yawned, pawing at her lap for a moment before laying down. Luz's expression quickly changed, putting on a smile as she gave me a little wave. 

"Well then, we should get going. I'll talk to you tomorrow Amity!" She chirped, making me nod. 

"Talk to you tomorrow Luz." I mumbled, biting back the three extra words I wanted to say and hanging up the call. My scroll went dark, my only source of light now coming from the moon. I was about to make my scroll disappear, but then I stopped. 

I pulled up our messages, sticking the tip of my tongue out as I typed a quick message. I hesitated for a moment, my thumb hovering over the send button, then with a sigh, I quickly hit send. 

"Can't wait to see you tomorrow <3" 

"I'm gonna regret that in the morning." I muttered to myself, making my scroll disappear. With a low groan, I rubbed my face with my hands, a sudden wave of tiredness hitting me. Leaning back onto my bed, I got under my covers and started to relax.

My house was quiet, meaning that the twins were both actually asleep. Kind of surprising honestly, they normally stay up later than this, even if there is a show the next day. Closing my eyes, I slowly started to drift off to sleep, feeling my body melt onto my mattress. 

Then, my scroll went off again.

I jumped at the noise, hissing when I smacked my hand against my headboard. While I rubbed my hand, I summoned my scroll, squinting at its bright light. "If it's Boscha, I'm ignoring it till morning." I mumbled, opening the message, noticing there was an image attached. 

It wasn't from Boscha. 

"Can't wait to see you either! Now get some sleep <3" 

It was from Luz. 

A blush rose to my cheeks, making my ears go down. Blinking, I clicked on the image that she sent me. It was a selfie of her with a big smile while she held up a peace sign, her hair ruffled slightly and her cheeks dusted with a very light pink. 

I made my scroll disappear, then I laid back down on my bed, grabbed my pillow and put it over my face before I let out a loud squeal. It lasted for a minute, then when I pulled my pillow away, I put on a poker face. 

"So help me gods she will be the death of me." I muttered, making a small mental note to save the photo she sent in the morning. I put my pillow back down under my head then ran my hands through my hair, noticing just how much heat was radiating off my cheeks.

Rolling onto my side to get comfortable, I stared at the light that flooded into my room, waiting to drift off to sleep. It was quiet, the nice kind of quiet. My eyes fluttered shut, my mind slowly dragging me into a dream. 

Before I passed out completely, I silently hoped that my dream would be about Luz. Just the thought of that brought a small smile to my face as I finally turned in for the night.


	13. First big show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, first things first since this doesn’t directly relate to the chapters… HOLY HECK THANK YOU GUYS! I’m really glad you all like this book so much and to be honest I didn’t think it’d be this popular haha
> 
> And now some things that directly relate to the chapters. First, these next few chapters might take a bit longer to make due to their length (also because I’m really gonna have to take a lot of emotion filled breaks while writing specific scenes, and the only thing I’m gonna say about that is get ready to riot) so I apologize for that. And with that long note out of the way, enjoy your read!
> 
> Song link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrmPDUvKyLs

Luz POV:

The moment my alarm went off I shot up and out of bed, startling King in the process. While he groggily tried to figure out what happened, I quickly changed out of my pajamas and threw on my other clothes. "What are you doing?" King managed to say as he stretched out before flopping back down on my sleeping bag. 

"Getting ready for the day!" I chirped back as I fiddled with the cuffs of my jeans. Then, I eyed myself up and down in the mirror. Tapping my chin, I turned back to King. "Do you think tucking my shirt would be too much?" 

"But it's so early!" King whined, completely ignoring my question. I simply shrugged, then started to tuck my shirt. Glancing at myself in the mirror again, it still felt like something was off. King got up and trotted over to my bag, sifting through some of my stuff. I went over towards him, gently pulling him out of my bag before going through it myself. 

I pulled a brown belt out of my bag, a smile finding its way on my face. "Just what I'm missing!" Standing up, I quickly started to loop the belt through my jeans, then once that was done, I put on my beanie and flannel.

I moved back over to the mirror, adjusting my beanie a little. "So, whaddya think?" I spun around to face King, popping the collar of my jacket. He eyed me up and down, lightly rubbing his chin. 

"I think that it's too early to be up!" King said, folding his arms over his chest. "The King of demons needs his sleep! Especially since you were up late last night acting all lovey to whatever her name is." A faint blush rose to my cheeks, but I quickly brushed it off, bending down to scoop up the little demon. 

"Look, I'm sorry I woke you up early." I muttered, giving him a quick pat on the head. "So, what if I were to make some pancakes to make up for it?" His eyes widened at the mention of pancakes, but he quickly tried to cover it. 

"That could work." He said as he jumped out of my arms, quickly making his way to my door, laughing the entire time. I rolled my eyes and followed after the tiny demon, the two of us going to the kitchen. 

He helped me gather up supplies, watching me as I mixed them all together into a thick batter. By the time I was pouring the batter into a pan, Eda made her way downstairs. 

She glared at the two of us, rubbing her eyes before taking a seat next to King. "Do you two want to tell me why you two are up so early?" I started sifting through Eda's drawers, looking for a spatula. 

"Well, I needed to be up early cause I have my first gig tonight, and I accidentally woke up King. So, to make it up to him, I'm making pancakes." Eda side eyed King before rolling her eyes at him.

"Really King?" King glared at Eda, folding his arms over his chest. 

"What? I need my sleep." He said, making Eda shake her head. She poked him right between the eyes, nearly making him fall off his chair. 

"No, you wanted an excuse to have her make pancakes since you're too short to do it yourself." Eda retorted, making me snort. That was was a low blow, and it clearly made King angry. 

"I'm not too short!" He squeaked, smacking Eda's arm, but that only made her snort and shove him away. King froze, then a low squeal slowly rose up from his throat. 

While King went through his squeak of rage, I put the pancakes on a plate, making sure to put out the fire under the pan. "Alright you two, you can stop arguing now." I said as I carried over King's plate.

"Hey, pipsqueak over here started it." Eda said as she jabbed a thumb over in King's direction, who gasped in response. 

"I am not a pipsqueak!" He yelled, getting ready to charge at Eda. However, I placed his plate of pancakes in front of him, making him freeze in his tracks. King sat down in his seat and started to snarf down his food, making Eda shake her head. 

"Do you want a pancake?" I asked Eda, who just shook her head. She stood up, stretching her arms over her head before she moved over to me and ruffled my hair and beanie. 

"Nah, I'm not hungry. Thanks though kiddo." She smiled, then moved over to the cooler. There was a bit of sifting, then she pulled out a bottle of her elixir and popped off the cork. "So, are you excited for your first gig?" She asked as she moved to one of the cupboards, grabbing a glass. 

"Definitely!" Eda chuckled slightly at my enthusiasm, lightly shaking her head. She poured her elixir in her glass then made the original bottle it came in disappear before she took a sip. 

"Well, I'm glad you're excited." She muttered, taking another sip of her drink. "Sorry I can't make it to the show." There was a bit of guilt laced in her voice, but it was clear she was trying to hide it. 

"It's alright Eda, I get it." I gave her a lopsided smile, making her grin. Behind us, King slammed his hands down on the table, his plate cleared. 

"Done!" He exclaimed, then hopped out of his chair and scampered off to the living room. Eda shook her head, then drew a quick spell that grabbed his plate and cleaned it off before levitating it back to the cupboard. 

"Anyways, what time do you need to leave?" Eda asked me as she finished off the last sip of her drink, cleaning her cup the same way she did with King's plate. "Cause if you need to leave sometime this afternoon, then you can come help me with the stand." 

"Oh, Amity said I need to be at the studio in like, an hour or two." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "But I can still go help you with the stand until then!" 

Eda raised an eyebrow at me, leaning against the counter. "Why does Lily's little apprentice want you there that early?" 

"She told me that the ride to the stadium would take a couple of hours, that's why." Eda nodded her head, then sighed. Then, she ruffled my hair again, pulling my beanie slightly over my eyes. 

"Well, if you've got to be there that early, I won't drag you to the stand and risk making you late. If that girl is anything like Lily was, she'll have a fit over you being late. I'll just drag King along again." 

King popped his head back in the room at the sound of his name, making Eda chuckle. "Are you sure? I could still go if you need me too." She shook her head and started to walk towards the living room, I followed after her. 

"Nah, you can just come help tomorrow morning, unless you've got something planned around that time too?" I shook my head, making Eda smile. "Great. Also, got a question for you." We both made our way into the living room and Eda flopped down on the couch. 

"Ask away!" I chirped, sitting down on the couch next to her and leaning back. 

"When's the next time you go visit your mom again?" She asked, running her hands through her silver mane. King walked into the room, hopping up on the couch next to the two of us before curling up into a ball. 

"I plan to visit her in two days unless something changes with our schedules." Eda nodded, glancing up at the door for a moment. 

"Alright good to know." She took a quick look at the time before she stood up, scooping up King. "And before you ask why I want to know, I noticed you haven't gone to visit in a week or so, so I was curious." 

I chuckled, popping my knuckles. "Yeah, her work was pretty busy last week, otherwise I would've gone." 

Eda snorted, lightly patting my shoulder. "That's why I've got a job that doesn't have a tight nit schedule. Or really any schedule for that manner." Another snort escaped my mentor while King just rolled his eyes. "Anyways, we're gonna head out. I've got to send Owlbert on another trash haul and King and I need to go to the stand. Good luck at your show kiddo." 

"Yeah! Good luck!" King quipped, giving me a small wave. I smiled, waving at the both of them as they made their way out the door. 

"Thanks guys! See you later!" And with that, they were gone. I leaned back on the couch again, glancing around the room. It was quiet, way too quiet. 

Standing up, I went back up to my room, pulling out my scroll and unlocking it. "Since the silence is bugging me and I don't want to talk to Hooty to fill that silence, let's see if Willow and Gus are up!" 

I pulled up my messages, my eyes catching the last message I sent Amity last night. It brought a smile to my face, almost distracting me from what I was going to do. Lightly shaking my head, I pushed open the door to my room and pulled up the group chat between Willow, Gus and I, quickly typing out a message. 

"Hey guys! Are you up?" I sent, waiting for a response. A few minutes went by, each of them agonizingly long because of the silence. Then, there was a ping from my scroll. I quickly picked it up and opened it, grinning the entire time. 

"I'm up!" Willow sent, I could hear the cheery tone in her voice. 

"Same here!" Gus sent shortly after.

"Well then, wanna call before I have to go to the studio?" I asked, sticking out my tongue a little. Glancing out my window, I noticed the sun was slowly traveling up the sky, still casting the tall trees in early morning shadows. 

My scroll suddenly started to rapidly buzz, startling me enough to nearly make it fly out of my hands. I scrambled, then managed to catch it, the magic phone still buzzing. Instead of giving me a message answer, my friends decided to call. 

I picked up the call, switching it over to video to match the others. There was a bit of buffering, then both of their smiling faces appeared on my scroll. "Hey Luz!" They both chirped, making me smile. 

"Heyo guys! I knew you two wouldn't be able to resist calling." I finger gunned, Willow chuckled and Gus playfully rolled his eyes. 

"Are you excited?" Gus asked, his ears flapping slightly. I gave him a vigorous nod, tightly gripping onto my jacket. 

"Probably the most excited I've been in awhile! But I'm also pretty nervous." I chuckled, both of them nodding in response. 

"I'm honestly surprised you aren't more nervous." Gus commented, making me scoff. I waved him off, smirking the entire time.

"Me? More nervous than this? Please! I'm Luz Noceda, I'm cool as a cucumber!" I placed a finger gun under my chin, wiggling my eyebrows at the two. Willow laughed, shaking her head. 

"Sure you are, unless you're around Amity." That made me freeze up, a low squeak coming from my mouth that I struggled to suppress. "I'm not wrong, am I?" She smirked as I quickly sputtered and tried to answer. 

"I'm not nervous around Amity!" I finally managed to say, struggling to keep my voice at the same tone it was before. Gus chuckled and Willow shook her head. "I'm not!" 

"Whatever you say." Gus laughed, wiping his eyes. 

"But, speaking of Amity..." Willow started, pushing her glasses up on her face. "How's that plan to confess coming along?" 

"I... there hasn't been a good time yet..." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. Willow's expression dropped as she eyed me up and down, then she sighed. 

"You haven't thought of a plan yet have you?" 

"No I haven't!" I pulled my beanie over my eyes with a groan. "I've been trying! But each one I come up with I've abandoned! On one hand, I want to go all out for it and make it some big reveal, on the other hand I kinda just want to invite her over and quietly confess." 

"Both could work." Gus said, leaning his chin on the palm of his hand. 

"But knowing Amity, it might be better to do a more quiet kind of confession." Willow quickly added, slightly glaring at Gus' side of the screen. "Seriously though Luz, just convince her to go with you somewhere sometime, then confess when the moment feels right. That's all there is to it." 

"You make it sound so easy!" I whined as I lifted my beanie off of my eyes. "Here's the thing you two, I don't even know where to start!" 

They both paused, glancing at different parts of their screens for a moment before looking back at me. "Start by being bold!" Gus placed his fist against his chest, a big smile on his face. 

"What?" I asked, making both of them roll their eyes. 

"Be bold!" They both said, excitement laced in both of their voices. I raised an eyebrow, trying to wrap my head around what they meant.

"That's a lot of help..." I muttered, sarcasm light in my voice. "Willow c'mon help me out here, you've got a girlfriend. What am I supposed to do?" Gus placed a hand over his chest, clearly looking offended.

"You don't trust my advice?" He questioned, putting on a fake pout that made Willow start to laugh. Gus' pout quickly cracked and he started laughing with her. 

"I really don't know why you're asking me for advice." Willow said with a smirk, folding her arms over her chest. "After all, I'm the one that asked you for advice when I wanted to hook up with Boscha." 

My arms fell limp at my sides, I blinked a few times, then let out a loud groan. "Right, you did." I muttered, leaning back until I fell onto my back. "How did I forget that?" Both of them shrugged. 

"Well, if you still want me to give you advice, I can just tell you what you told me." I sat back up, staring at Willow for a moment, waiting for what she was about to tell me. "Take her to a place you're sure she'd like, wait till the moment's right, then take her by the hands, look her in the eyes and tell her how you feel." 

"I told you that?" Willow nodded her head, I placed a hand against my cheek, leaning against my knee. "Wow, that's kind of hard to believe." Gus snorted, quickly covering his mouth to stifle his sounds. 

"I can't even remember if Willow went through with that plan." Gus finally managed to say, making a blush rise to Willow's face, her ears going down slightly. She rubbed her hands together, avoiding eye contact with the camera. 

"It wasn't exactly like that..." Her voice was suddenly soft, still not looking at the two of us. "I added a bit to the plan Luz gave me." 

"Added what?" I asked, my curiosity peaking. Willow squeaked, then struggled to hide her face.

"Yeah come on Willow, tell Luz here what you added." Gus teased, pointing towards his camera. I could see Willow's blush deepen, but she took a deep breath in an attempt to regain her composure. 

"That's not important right now." She said, her voice slightly higher than usual. I smirked, eyeing Gus' side of the screen for a moment. 

I hummed for a moment, rubbing my chin slightly. "I don't know Willow, it does seem pretty important right now~" She furrowed her eyebrows, glaring at me. 

"Don't you have a studio to be at right now?" She quickly changed the topic, already done with my teasing.

"Wow, such sass." I said, placing a hand over my chest before I glanced at the time, my eyes widening slightly. "But shoot you're right, I'm supposed to be at the studio soon!" I gave them a quick wave and salute. "I'll catch you guys on the flip side!" 

"See if you can find me at the show!" Willow quickly added with a wave, I gave her a nod. Gus rubbed the back of his neck. 

"You won't be able to see me at the show, but good luck Luz!" He smiled, giving me two thumbs up. "And hey, remember, be bold!" 

"I'll try." I muttered, giving them one last wave before hanging up the call. With a sigh, I stood up and made my way to leave, quickly putting on a pair of red converse and then I made sure to grab my sticks before I left. Jogging down the old creaky stairs and out the front door, I gave Hooty a quick wave goodbye. 

"Wait Luz! Where are you going?" He called out after me, making me quickly spin around to face him. 

"To the studio! I've got a show tonight!" I spun back around, facing forward and picking up my pace. Glancing at the time I grimaced, I would be late if I didn't hurry. So, turning my speed walk into a light jog, I followed along the path I had been following for the past few weeks to the studio.

By the time I made it to the studio, there was a large looking cart parked in front of the door. I slowed my jog down to a walk, panting slightly as I walked past the cart. Very carefully, I ran my hand along its side, noting its smooth texture. 

Going to the front door, I pulled it open and slipped inside, a few of my band mates chatting away. Both the twins perked up when they noticed me walk into the room. The two siblings were both dressed in all black. "Luz! You're finally here!" Edric said excitedly, leaning back slightly in his chair. 

"Yeah, sorry about being late." I chuckled, taking a few deep breaths. Edric shrugged, placing his arms behind his head. 

"Could've been later." He pointed out, testing his luck by leaning a little further back. Emira glanced over at him, a mischievous glint quickly filling her eyes. She moved closer to his chair, slowly moving her foot by one of the legs. 

But, before she could do anything, Edric caught on and put his chair down, much to her disappointment. She sighed, then turned to me, eyeing me up and down for a moment before smiling. "By the way, nice outfit you got there cutie." 

"Oh! Thanks!" I smiled, making the Blight twins smile back. Glancing around the room, I noticed no one else was around. "Where's everybody else?" 

"Matt's off in the sound room doing who knows what and Boscha and Mittens are doing their makeup in their rooms." Emira said, a sudden look of realization flashing across her face. "Oh, that reminds me! You'll need to get Mittens to help you with your makeup!" 

"Makeup?" I muttered. 

Edric caught on to my confusion, chuckling softly. "Don't worry! It's nothing too extreme, just a bit of thick eyeliner to match the rest of the band, that's all." I nodded my head, slowly making my way towards our rooms. 

"Well then, I'm gonna go get that out of the way now. See you guys here in a few!" I turned around the corner and quickly made my way over to mine and Amity's room. The door was closed, but behind the door I could hear the muffled sound of Amity humming. 

Very slowly, I opened the door. I didn't knock, not wanting to risk Amity accidentally messing up her makeup. Peering into the room, I found Amity carefully applying her eyeliner and humming a tune. 

When she pulled the small brush far enough away from her eye, I cleared my throat. She jumped slightly, then turned towards me, her eyes softening when she saw me. "Glad to see you here, I was about to message you and see where you were." 

"Sorry it took me so long." I chuckled, stepping into the room and closing the door behind me. "And uh, before anything else, Edric said I needed some eyeliner?" 

Amity's eyes widened slightly as she nodded. "Yeah you do. Here, come here I'll help." She waved me over to her, which I quickly followed. Standing up, she motioned for me to take a seat, which I did. 

"So miss singer, what do you need me to do?" She rolled her eyes at the nickname, but I could see the grin slowly growing on her face. 

"Just stay still for a minute, and try not to blink." She mumbled, dipping the brush in the tube for a moment before pulling it back out. I did as she asked, my eyes slowly glancing around the room. 

The Blight went around to the side of the chair, leaning in for a moment before furrowing her eyebrows. She switched sides, getting the same result. "What's up?" I asked, my eyes following her as she moved in front of me. 

"Can't get a good angle..." Amity muttered, moving to my side once again. She groaned, standing up straight and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Just, move to the cot." I nodded my head and stood up, taking a seat on the edge of the cot. 

"Is this any better?" I asked, a small smile on my face. Amity tried once again to get a good angle, both times failing. With another low groan, she stood in front of me, lightly tapping her chin. Suddenly, her eyes widened and her ears went down, a red tint crossing her cheeks. 

"You don't mind me getting close, right?" I raised an eyebrow, then chuckled, shaking my head. 

"Not at all, do whatever you need to." Smiling at the witch I waited for her to do her thing, but she hesitated. I could see her eyes darting for a moment, her grip on the tube of makeup tightening. Then, she sighed and muttered something under her breath.

She took a few steps forward, making me assume that she was just going to kneel in front of me. However, that wasn't the case. Amity took another step forward, then very carefully maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on my lap with her legs off to one side, facing me. 

My face instantly flushed red at her actions, my heart ready to pound out of my chest at any moment, I silently prayed she couldn't hear it. She was so close to me, her face maybe a few inches from mine. The air was sucked from my lungs, quickly getting replaced by a tight, warm feeling. 

Her gaze remained on the floor, her face and ears still red in color. "Sorry about having to get so close." She stammered before taking in a shaky breath, then she finally turned and looked at me. Her eyes widened slightly at the look on my face, which had to be some kind of mix of confusion and complete surprise, not to mention the fact I was beyond flustered. "Are you okay?" She asked, concern clearly laced in her voice.

I sputtered for a moment, my brain completely short-circuiting and only pulling up blanks. While I struggled to find something to say, my eyes quickly darted down to her lips for a moment before back up to her golden eyes, then I finally managed to squeak out in a shaky tone. 

"Oh, Dios mío, voy a explotar, estás tan cerca de mí. Tus labios se ven suaves, ¿alguien te ha dicho eso alguna vez?" I gave an awkward smile, but Amity only raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion before chuckling softly. 

"What?" She asked, her ears going up slightly. I shook my head a couple of times, then I cleared my throat. 

"I said I'm just peachy! Just didn't expect you to get that close." I lied, letting out a nervous chuckle. 

"If you're uncomfortable I can move." She quickly said, her eyes flashing with a hint of panic. I quickly shook my head, holding my hands up slightly. 

"No you're good!" I laughed, struggling to force down the blush that continued to rise on my cheeks. "You just caught me off guard, that's all." Amity seemed to sigh in relief, putting on a smile. 

"Whatever you say." She muttered, opening the makeup tube and leaning in a little closer. "Now don't move, otherwise I might accidentally stab you in the eye." Very slowly, she started to apply the makeup, making sure to be careful. 

Both of us sat like that for a solid five minutes, a nice red blush dusting across both of our cheeks due to how close we were to one another. 

I genuinely thought she was going to be the death of me. 

Finally, she pulled away, tilting her head slightly as she observed her work. Then, she put the cap on the makeup and stood up, much to my disappointment. I stood up as well, moving over to the mirror to see how I looked. 

On both of my eyes were thick lines that trailed out into wings. "Well? How do I look?" I asked Amity as I spun around, placing one hand on my hip and the other as a finger gun under my chin. She eyed me up and down for a moment, then gave me a lopsided smile. 

"You look great. The makeup really ties everything together." Taking a few steps closer, she gently took both sides of my jacket between her fingers, lightly rubbing the fabric. "The flannel looks good with the outfit by the way." A bright smile appeared on my face. 

Amity fell silent, her gaze seemingly stuck to the floor while her ears slowly pinned down against her head. She still had her hands on my jacket, keeping me in place. After a minute, I slowly brought a hand up to her wrist, gently taking it in my hand. "You went quiet, what's on your mind?" I asked, watching as her eyes moved up to my hand, lingering for a moment. 

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Her grip on my jacket tightened as she let out her breath. "Luz, there's something I've gotta say." Those six words sent a jolt down my spine, mixing with the feeling I got when she suddenly met my gaze, my mind running as I tried to think of what she was about to tell me. 

"What? Is it about the concert?" I carefully asked, watching her eyebrows go down slightly before she stared down at the ground. 

"No." She mumbled, her voice slightly shaking and barely loud enough for me to hear. 

"Then, what is it?" My hands slowly closed into fists and I noticed just how sweaty my palms were. I could feel my nerves slowly climbing as she fell silent once again. My nails were digging into the palms of my hands while I waited in anticipation.

Amity mumbled something, her voice too soft for me to hear. We both went quiet, then she looked up at me. "You didn't hear me, did you?" I noticed just how vulnerable her voice sounded in that very moment. Slowly, I shook my head, making her sigh. "Look, what I said was that I-"

Suddenly, the door to our room was thrown open, interrupting whatever Amity was about to say. Edric stood frozen in the doorway, a look of shock plastered on his face. "Am I interrupting something right now?" He asked, a smirk slowly appearing on his lips.

The youngest Blight sibling let go of my jacket, turning to face her brother. "You don't know how to knock? What do you want?" Her voice was sour, making Edric flinch before responding. 

"We need help loading up the equipment." He muttered with half a smile, making Amity roll her eyes. 

"We'll be out in a minute." She muttered, turning back to me. Amity motioned for me to bend down, which I complied. Then, I felt her adjusting my beanie and running her hand through the bit of my hair that stuck out towards the front. "There, that was starting to bug me."

"What were you gonna say?" I asked, my eyes meeting hers. She froze for a moment, then just chuckled and softly shook her head, a smile on her face. 

"Don't worry about it. It's not important." Amity gave me a quick boop on the nose, then turned on her heel and headed towards the door, looking back at me with a smile. "Now c'mon, let's go help them load up the cart so we can hit the road." 

I hesitated for a moment, my mind silently questioning what she was going to say. It had to have been important, she wouldn't have acted like that if it wasn't. But, because Edric showed up, she shrugged it off, meaning that she wanted us to be alone. 

What would she be saying that was so important to me and me alone?

A few different ideas came to mind, but I quickly shook my head. Following after Amity and leaving the room, I found everyone out in the main room, Matt, Edric, and Emira all lugging out equipment to the cart. 

Matt caught sight of the two of us and scoffed, picking up a few of the speakers. "Look who finally arrived." He muttered in an irritated tone before carrying the speakers out the door. The twins glanced over in his direction with a confused look on their faces, but they both shrugged it off, following after him with more supplies. 

I quickly went over to some pieces of the drum set, carefully stacking them before picking them up. "Be careful!" Amity called after me, making me smile. Carrying the pieces outside, I followed the twins to the back of the cart and set the pieces inside. Emira made sure to push them towards the back, tightly strapping them in. 

Edric nudged his twin, muttering something to her before disappearing back inside. "So, how's your morning been?" I turned towards Emira, who chuckled softly. 

"Hectic. Like every morning before a gig." I tilted my head slightly, raising an eyebrow. 

"Hectic how?" 

"Hectic as in, Edric's still out cold in his bed in his pajamas, Mittens nagging the two of us because she's nervous, me trying to make sure we've got everything." Emira listed off, slightly nodding her head to each different scenario. "That kind of hectic." 

"Oh." She nodded her head, then turned back to strapping things in, I took that as my cue to go back inside and get more things. When I went back inside, I could hear Amity's voice pretty much whisper yelling at her brother. 

Walking into the main room, Amity didn't notice me walk in. She jabbed a finger in Edric's chest, who slowly took a step back from his younger sister. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but based on how Edric was reacting, I assumed it was because of one of his pranks 

Edric noticed me walk in the room, his eyes widening slightly. He tried to motion to Amity that I was there, but she didn't listen. Walking past the two of them, I managed to catch a snippet of their conversation. "You couldn't wait a few more minutes? The timing was perfect!" 

"Timing to what?" I asked, making Amity shriek in surprise, stumbling before catching her balance. She eyed me up and down for a moment, her ears going down in response. Then, she nervously laughed, her gaze avoiding mine. 

"Just the timing for the show!" She said in a shaky voice before letting out a chuckle, lightly patting her thighs. I shrugged, then went to go pick up more speakers to take them to the cart. 

Passing by the two siblings again, I noted that Amity was beet red in the face, her hands fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Are you good Amity?" I asked, pausing in my tracks. Amity's head snapped up as she gave me a quick smile. 

"Totally fine!" She chirped, her voice wavering slightly. "Just Ed pissing me off like usual. But anyways, I've gotta make sure we grabbed everything from the sound room!" Amity spoke quickly before darting off towards the sound room, closing the door behind her. 

Her brother and I stared at the door for a moment, then Edric sighed. "Y'know, sometimes I really do worry for that witch." He muttered, taking a few of the speakers off of my load. 

"What'd she mean by the timing for the show?" I asked, following after Edric. He glanced back at me, then continued looking forward. 

"I was talking with Boscha about one of the effect we have planned." He started, adjusting the speakers in his arms. "According to Mittens however, the effect would be off putting at the time we were gonna set it off. And since it's the day of the show, Mittens is all high strung, so she just snapped at me." 

The two of us went to the back of the cart, carefully setting down the speakers and strapping them in. Emira stood by Edric's side, counting off the speakers we brought in. Clasping her hands together, Emira turned to her brother with a smile. "That's pretty much everything! We've just gotta get the mics, which I'm sure Matt has. What time did Mittens say we were leaving again?" Edric shrugged.

All of us slowly made our way back inside to find the other three gathered around the table. Boscha was leaned back in a chair, typing on her scroll, Amity sat next to her with her arms folded over her chest, her ears down slightly. Matt leaned against the table, a scowl on his face as he glared in the direction of the hallway.

"Matty!" Edric called with a smirk, making the witch slouch down. "Do you got the mics?" 

"Do I look like I'd forget them?" Matt hissed, stepping to the side to reveal the mics. Edric tapped his chin, before chuckling. 

"Maybe?" Edric's twin snorted, making Matt's eyebrows knit tightly together. His lip twitched, but he held back his words for a moment. Pulling out his scroll, he turned his gaze towards that. 

"Well I'm not that stupid, unlike you." That made Edric hiss, clasping a hand over his heart. I moved over towards Amity, leaning on the part of the table to her right. Emira lightly patted her brother on the back, but Edric shrugged her off. 

The twin moved over to Matt, leaning onto his shoulder much to the witch's annoyance. "Geez Matty, that blow was so low it almost took out my knees. But that's about how high you can reach, isn't it?" Matt twitched, snapping his head towards Edric, who only looked at him with a smirk. 

But, before either of them could do anything else, Amity stood up and sighed. "Before these two get into a fight, let's get going." A giddy grin instantly found its way to my face when she said that.

The six of us went outside and piled into the cart, Matt taking the passenger seat, the twins taking the front, and Boscha, Amity and I taking the back. I stared at the inside of the cart in awe. "This thing's like a limo!" I said, making Boscha and Amity raise an eyebrow. 

"What's a limo?" The three eyed witch asked with a chuckle, taking a seat and crossing her legs. 

"Oh, well limos are like, really long cars. And cars are like carts except they don't need something to pull them!" I then went on to explain how there's different kinds of cars back on Earth, the two witches hanging on my every word. Halfway through my explanation, the cart lurched forward, meaning we were on the road. "I'd have to take you guys to Earth sometime! It'd be fun!" 

"Yeah, fun." Amity muttered, leaning back against the seat. The three of us fell silent, my gaze wandered around the different parts of the cart for a moment. 

"So now what do we do?" I asked the two, both of them looking in my direction. 

Boscha shrugged, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes. "Well, I don't know about you two dorks, but I'm gonna nap." Amity snorted, shooting a smirk in Boscha's direction. 

"What? Did you stay up late texting Willow?" Boscha didn't move, but I could see that she tensed up. Then, very slowly, she flipped Amity off before raising her head. 

"No, I didn't." She put her head back against the seat, making Amity laugh. 

"Whatever. You better be able to wake up quick though. The show starts pretty much once we get there." The green hair witch said, Boscha hummed in response. I turned to Amity, who glanced over at me for a minute. 

"It's gonna start that fast?" I asked and Amity nodded her head. 

"Yep. Since we're so far away from the stadium, we're basically gonna get there thirty minutes before the show starts." She sighed, resting her chin on her palm. "Let's hope my siblings can set up quickly." 

I waved her off. "Knowing the two of them, it'll be easy." I leaned my chin onto the palms of my hands, shooting Amity a smile. "Now, I've got a question for you!" 

"What is it?" She asked with half a smile, and for a second I thought she was leaning closer towards me. 

"Okay, so for you guy's last show, you did that awesome spotlight reveal, are we doing something like that again?" I asked excitedly, remembering their reveal. But, Amity shook her head. 

"Not necessarily, since you're new to the band, we've decided to do something a little different." She started, sitting up and popping her fingers. "I've planned to have your side of the stage dark at first while the rest is lit up so we can give you a big reveal."

A squeal quickly rose from my throat at that idea, making Amity smile. "That sounds awesome!" Amity nodded her head. Boscha suddenly groaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. 

"Look, if you wanted me to stay awake you could've just said so." She mumbled, shooting a subtle glare to our singer, who only laughed. "Honestly, I could get you to shut up by muting you if I wanted." 

"Bet." Amity smirked, making Boscha squint. Very slowly, Boscha brought her hand up and started to draw a spell circle. However, I jumped up and stood between the two, giving a nervous chuckle. 

"How bout, we don't do that? Especially since there's the show soon." Boscha stared at me for a moment, then sighed, waving away the half cast spell. Then, she turned to Amity, trying to remain serious before chuckling. 

The three of us continued to chat to pass the time, cracking jokes and playing a few games while we waited to make it to the stadium. About halfway to our destination, Amity's scroll buzzed with a message. 

Pulling up the message, she laughed and showed it off to the rest of us. It was from Emira, the message simply reading "Payback." with an image attached. The image was of Edric slouched over in his cart seat asleep, sporting a drawn on pair of glasses and a loopy mustache. 

I had no clue what Edric could've done for that to be payback, but it was pretty funny. 

An hour or two later, the cart suddenly came to a stop, nearly making me fall out of my seat. There was a loud couple of knocks that came from the front of the cart, then we heard the others getting out. "Alright, we've got half an hour, let's go." Amity said as she stood up, stretching her arms over her head. 

We flooded out of the cart, Boscha complaining about how her leg had fallen asleep. Outside, the twins and Matt were already taking things inside, using their magic to quickly float a large chunk of our gear where it needed to be. The sun was setting, casting the land in orange light and long shadows.

I was quick to help, stacking up equipment and struggling to carry it to the stage. The stadium was large, but maybe not as big as the one from the last show. On the opposite side of the building stood a long line of people, waiting for when they'd be allowed in. 

Once we piled all our equipment on the stage, Matt quickly tested all the mics to make sure they were all working properly. Then, once he was done with that, he waved us down. "I'm gonna go tell the guards to start letting people in, you guys get ready." We all gave him a nod as he disappeared.

Edric and Emira worked on setting up a few of their more extreme special effects, I worked on setting up my drums in the spot Amity told me to, Boscha and Amity worked on tuning their guitars. 

Once all that was done, we had a little over ten minutes to spare. Matt came back and was quick to move to the sound board, the sound of voices trailing after him. The twins continued to set up their effects, darting from one side of the stage to another. "Try and not knock over my set this time sis." Edric nudged Emira with a chuckle as they both moved to the other side, Emira simply shook her head. 

I sat on a box behind the stage, staring at the drums. My nerves were completely shot, yet I couldn't stop smiling. "My first show..." I muttered to myself, running over the different songs in my head. 

Boscha appeared next to me, still tuning her bass. "You good?" She asked, giving the guitar an experimental strum. I drummed my fingers against my leg and gave her a nod. 

"I'm a little nervous, but I'm fine!" She gave me half a smile, then placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

"That's good to hear. And hey, if it makes you feel any better, once that spotlight lands on you, you'll barely be able to see the crowd. At least, that's what Edric says." She motioned towards the twin, who was leaning on Matt with a smile, the drawings on his face smudged. 

"Good to know." She gave me another smile, then walked off. I turned my gaze back down to the floor, letting my mind wander for a moment. 

I eventually started thinking about my call with Willow and Gus this morning. I thought about Willow's advice, well, okay more like my advice. Bring her to a place I'm sure she'd like? 

What better time to come up with a plan to confess than ten minutes before a big show?

A few places came to mind, but most of them were either too close to the town or a dangerous spot to be at during specific times. Like they said, a more private confession would probably be better, and I didn't want to be mauled by some creature in the middle of confessing. 

Then, it hit me. 

There was a spot not too far from the owl house that had a decent hill and an amazing view of the ocean. Not only that, but it'd be a great place to watch the sunset and go stargazing. It was an isolated spot.

It was the perfect spot. 

Standing up, I quickly went around backstage, trying to find the lead singer. "Just see if she's free tomorrow! Take her to the owl house to hang out, then take her there and bam! You can confess!" I thought to myself, finally finding the singer. 

"Seven minutes left guys!" Emira called out, making me tense up slightly. I couldn't move for a moment, my brain going a million miles a minute. 

Was this really a good idea to do now? I don't even have a full plan yet, all I've got is the bare bones of a plan. I've got a spot, but no idea what to say. 

I quickly shook my head, making the thoughts disappear. It was a good time, I'd just ask her now, then come up with what I'm gonna say by tomorrow. And if I couldn't come up with anything, I could just wing it. Easy peasy, right? 

Taking a deep breath, I made my way over to Amity. "Amity! Hey!" I winced when I heard how shaky my voice was, silently hoping I could blame it on me being nervous about the show rather than me being nervous about what I'm going to do.

"Hey Luz, what's up?" She asked, not even questioning my tone as she looked up from her guitar. I hesitated for a moment, clasping my hands together as I struggled to find what I wanted to say. 

"So I know it's a little out of the blue, but I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow?" I stammered, rubbing the back of my neck. Amity froze for a moment, blinking a couple of times before softly shaking her head, snapping herself out of her trance. 

"I mean, I've got to go to a shop to get some new strings for my guitar before the next gig, but that's all I have planned. Why do you ask?" She raised an eyebrow, making me chuckle. 

"Well, I thought maybe we could hang out! And, I've got something kind of important to tell you..." I trailed off, making her eyes widen slightly. "Not only that, but I've got a really cool spot I wanna show you, so whaddya say?" 

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, the gears in her head clearly turning. "Five minutes!" Emira called, making her tense up. 

"If you want, I can even tag along with you when you go to the shop, then we can go hang out! Save some of the hassle." I suggested, making her nod her head. A small smile appeared on her face.

"That would work." I could feel the giant smile that was on my face as I shot her a quick set of finger guns. 

"Is meeting up with you at Eda's stand at noon a good time for you?" I asked.

"It'd be a perfect time." Her eyes were glittering, they were honestly so mesmerizing to stare at. 

"Great! It's a date!" I spun on my heel, ready to walk off towards the drums, but I paused. "Be bold! Do something!" My mind was screaming at me, making me take a deep breath. 

Was I going to regret this? Maybe.

I spun back around to find Amity still staring at me. Then, I blew her a kiss and shot her a wink. "See you on the stage mi amor~" Her ears instantly went down at my actions, her face going red. Spinning back around, I quickly sped off, heading towards the stage. 

This is one of the times I'm glad Amity didn't understand Spanish. 

Suddenly, I slammed into someone. "Luz? What are you doing back here? And where's Mittens?" Edric placed his hands on my shoulders to steady me. I looked up at him, struggling to not laugh at all the smudged marker on his face. 

"I was just getting to the stage! And Amity's back there, I think." I jabbed a thumb behind me, making Edric nod. I could hear how loud the crowd was now, clearly they were all pumped for the show.

"Well, you better get on stage, I've gotta get Mittens up there too." He quickly disappeared, heading further backstage. I took in a quick, deep breath, then made my way to the drums. Taking a seat, I took a stick in each hand and waited, bouncing my free leg up and down nervously. 

Amity soon appeared after, her face still red. That worried me, making me wonder if I made her mad or something like that. She took her place on the stage, then shot a thumbs up to one of her siblings in the wings before turning forward. 

A sudden deep voice rang out, making me wince a little at their volume. "Welcome to the show folks!" The crowd erupted into cheers, excited that the show was finally going to begin. "We'd like to thank you for coming out here tonight! Now let's hear some noise!"

The crowd exploded in a wave of voices, making me smile. Boscha and Amity glanced over at one another, giving each other a nod before turning back to me. They both gave me a smile, which I smiled back. 

"Now let's move on to the real reason why you all are here, please help me welcome, The Abominations!" Somehow, the crowd got even louder as the curtains to the stage opened. From off in the wings, I could see the faint glow of a spell circle, then smoke instantly appeared at our feet, slowly seeping off the stage in a waterfall of clouds. 

Spotlights suddenly flickered to life, bathing Boscha and Amity in their light. The crowd broke out into more cheering as Amity slowly made her way up to her mic, taking it off the stand. 

"Good evening everybody!" The crowd blew up once again at the sound of her voice, and honestly I couldn't blame them. "How are you tonight?" Another wave of a cacophony of voices flooded our direction. 

"Now, tonight's show is pretty special." Boscha started once the crowd had died down a little, making a ripple of hushed whispers flow out from the crowd. "We'd like to introduce you all to a new member." 

"As most of you know, we held our drummer auditions a few weeks ago." Amity picked up, side glancing in my direction. "And because of that, we are proud to present our new drummer, Luz!" 

The spotlights sudden flipped on, basking me in their bright light. I blocked out the light with my hand for a moment, waiting for my eyes to adjust. The crowd blew up once again, loud cheers and whistles coming from the sea of people. 

I gave a little chuckle and a wave as the people cheered. "And by now I'm sure you guys are ready to hear some music!" Boscha said, barely being heard over the crowd, which only got louder at her words. 

"So let's start off with a classic." Amity sent a nod to Boscha, who started to strum her bass. I immediately recognized the tune and waited, ready for my cue.

Then, in a flash of sparks made by the twins, the spotlights dimmed down a little, setting the mood for the song. 

"I'm going back to 505."

"If it's a seven hour flight or a forty-five minute drive."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see one of the twins prepping another spell, waiting for the perfect moment. 

"In my imagination you're waiting, lying on your side."

"With your hands between your thighs."

Amity strummed out a few chords with her guitar, making Boscha's strumming fall silent for a moment. There was the first strum, then the second, and that made me quickly prepare for my cue. 

"Stop and wait a sec."

With that third strum, I started tapping my sticks together, occasionally hitting a cymbal. A sudden shower of soft sparkles flowed over the crowd, making them gasp in surprise.

"Oh, when you look at me like that, my darling"

"What did you expect?"

I glanced up at Amity for a moment, noting the neutral look on her face. 

"I probably still adore you with your hands around my neck."

"Or I did last time I checked."

Amity stopped singing, but we continued playing our instruments, waiting for her to continue. 

"Not shy of a spark."

My pattern changed slightly, now tapping my sticks together and alternating between hitting a cymbal and a tom. A smile slowly found it's way on my face as I stared out at the blurry crowd, noticing them swaying with the beat. 

"A knife twists at the thought that I should fall short of the mark." 

"Frightened by the bite though it's no harsher than the bark." 

"Middle of adventure, such a perfect place to start." 

There was a slight pause, then Amity started the chorus, making me change my pattern once again. 

"I'm going back to 505."

"If it's a seven hour flight or a forty-five minute drive."

She took a step closer to the mic, a smirk appearing on her lips as her eyes slowly scanned the crowd, which she was seeing a lot clearer than I was due to her position on the stage. 

"In my imagination you're waiting, lying on your side"

"With your hands between your thighs."

Another pause, repeating our pattern for a moment, then about halfway through I stopped hitting the drums and just continued to tap my sticks together, occasionally smacking a cymbal before quickly returning to the sticks. 

Eventually, Amity's guitar died out, leaving just me and Boscha playing. The blurry crowd seemed to slowly bounce up and down, waiting for the next bit of the song. 

"But I crumble completely when you cry!"

Our instruments fell silent, but only for a moment before we all kicked it into gear. The crowd shouted along the lyrics with Amity, making her smirk grow wider. 

"It seems like once again you've had to greet me with goodbye!"

"I'm always just about to go and spoil a surprise." 

"Take my hands off of your eyes too soon." 

I stuck out part of my tongue as I continued to drum, struggling to keep my focus on only my drumming. I knew the song now by heart, I could look up and turn my focus to something else if I wanted. 

But I knew if I did that, I would only focus on Amity. 

And all memory of the song would fly out the window. 

So I kept my focus only on my drums, listening close enough for my cues and nothing more. 

"I'm going back to 505."

"If it's a seven hour flight of a forty-five minute drive." 

The crowd somehow seemed to get louder, still singing along. 

"In my imagination you're waiting, lying on your side"

"With your hands between your thighs and a smile!" 

Amity stopped singing, but our instruments kept playing, blazing through the finale of the song. I struck my final pattern and fell silent, Boscha following in my footsteps, leaving Amity playing out the last chords. 

The song ended and there was a moment of silence, then the crowd exploded in applause with quite a few whistles thrown in. I could feel the giant smile on my face somehow get bigger as I listened to their claps.

Our singer grabbed the mic, holding it close to her face for a moment but not saying anything. Then, after a minute of probably regaining her breath while the crowd lost their minds, she spoke up. "Glad to see you guys still remember that song! Now, how bout we move to something a little newer?" 

The spotlights changed color, slowly shifting from different shades of pinks, purples and blues, meaning that we were starting Prom Night. While we started with the first part of the song, both the twins set off another special effect. 

Their effect shot off into the air like fireworks before silently exploding in different colored bird creatures, their colors matching the spotlight's. They gently swooping down above the crowd before disappearing, the crowd watching them in amazement. 

We blazed through Prom Night like it was nothing, much to the crowd's excitement. Then, we followed up with our third song, and once that was finished the stage blew up in a cloud of purple smoke and the curtains closed. 

I wiped the sweat off of my forehead, panting slightly. The deep announcer voice from earlier said there was a ten minute intermission, and the crowd quickly started talking. 

Amity and Boscha started walking backstage, Amity grabbed me by the arm and lifted me up, taking me backstage with them. We met up with the Blight twins, who were holding cups of water for us. 

"You guys are doing great!" Emira said, passing off her cups to us. I quickly took a sip, the cool drink was refreshing. 

"So are you two." I remarked, making the twins smile. They both chuckled, Edric shrugging his shoulders. 

"Hey, we try." He said, turning to Boscha before striking up a small conversation. Emira muttered something to him about setting up effects, then disappeared. Amity turned to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. 

She didn't say anything, rather, she shot me a small grin, her ears flapping softly. 

Her actions made me smile, a light blush rising to my cheeks that I didn't bother to suppress. 

When we all finished our drinks, we slowly made our way back to the stage. "Ready for the last half?" Amity asked, giving me a nudge. 

"Are you kidding?" I chuckled, giving her a nudge back. "I've never been more ready in my life! Let's blow them away with our talent!" 

That made her laugh, giving me a pat on the back. I took a seat back at my drums, gripping both sticks tightly in my hands. My nerves from earlier weren't as severe now, which was nice. 

Once we all made it to our spots, Matt sent a signal to the announcer, and soon enough his voice rang out across the crowd. I twirled my sticks in my hands for a moment, then stopped when the curtains opened, revealing the crowd once again. 

Now, it was time to finish the show.


	14. Down to the shop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll have your weapons ready yet?
> 
> TW: attempted assault 
> 
> (Oh my god I forgot to pu a TW the first time guys I'm so sorry it literally slipped my mind)

Amity POV: 

After the intermission, the last half of the show went on like all the rest, filled with the crowd cheering our names and screaming the lyrics as we blasted the songs with all of our hearts. 

And once that was over, I had to warn Luz while we were packing up about the wave of fans that were no doubt going to swarm us the moment we opened the doors. She waved me off, saying it was nothing she couldn't handle. 

Well, once we got out the doors, I couldn't help but chuckle as that was put to the test. 

Luz was instantly hit with a wave of fans, asking for autographs and photos, bombing her with questions about whatever they could think of. And while she did seem a little overwhelmed by all the sudden people, she had a giant smile on her face while she answered their questions or signed their merch. 

Of course, the rest of the band mates and I were also flooded by fans, but I made sure to keep a close eye on Luz. I knew there was a chance something could happen. 

After a bit more signing and photos with fans, my eyes caught onto two guys pushing their way through the crowd and up to Luz. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could tell Luz gave them a friendly greeting. 

They both passed her a piece of paper, which she quickly signed and handed back. Then, they started chatting. The two of them had this odd smile on their face, making me uneasy. 

I tried to brush it off, but when I saw one of them reach up and flick her ears, I knew it was time to go. Quickly excusing myself from the fans, I made my way over to Luz and grabbed her by the arm, catching her by surprise. 

"Sorry, but we've gotta go." I put on a fake apologetic smile, then started to drag Luz away, who gave the two a wave goodbye. Keeping my grip on Luz, I motioned for the others to follow after me, which they quickly did. 

A faint blush started to rise to my cheeks when I realized how close I was to Luz, but I forced it down. "Those two were pretty nice." Luz remarked with a smile. She had a bounce in her step, a stark contrast from mine. 

"They were creepy." I muttered, making Luz raise an eyebrow. 

"I don't think they were trying to be." She argued, making me shake my head. 

"Still, I don't trust them. They just gave off this weird vibe. And besides, one of them flicked your ears." Luz just laughed, giving me a slight nudge. 

"What? Worried they were gonna hurt little old me?" She teased, making me groan. I gave her a light shove to get her to shut up, but that only made her laugh again. 

We all piled into the cart, practically melting into our seats out of exhaustion. Once all the adrenaline of the moment left you, you were just drained of energy. 

The best examples of that would be Luz, who was sprawled out across three seats within the first ten minutes of the ride back, and Boscha, who tried to convince me she wasn't tired before almost instantly dozing off. 

I stayed awake, texting my siblings and scrolling through Pentsa to pass the time. They brought up how I acted when Luz was chatting with those fans, then they started teasing me for it. 

Once they started teasing, I stopped responding, making them spam my scroll with messages for a couple of minutes before finally giving up and going silent. The rest of the ride was silent, and I caught myself staring at Luz's sleeping face for a majority of it. 

When we made it back to the studio around midnight, the moon was hanging high in the sky. After waking everyone up, I offered to walk Luz home, not wanting her to walk alone and not wanting to leave her to sleep at the studio again. 

Lucky for me, she accepted my offer. 

Our walk was full of chatter, talking about how the show went and making jokes. And once we made it to the owl house, she gave me a quick hug goodbye before going inside, leaving my whole body tingling. 

And by the time I made it home, all my thoughts were on Luz. I thought about our hug, her random question backstage, the way she blew me a kiss. Her words continued to echo throughout my head. 

"Great! It's a date!" 

Gods that broke me. 

If it wasn't for Edric, I would've stayed backstage completely starstruck. 

I told myself that it was Luz just being Luz, that she didn't mean it like it was an actual date. But that didn't stop me from lying awake that night, staring at my ceiling with a blush on my face at the thought of the two of us going on a date. 

A sudden loud thud made me snap up in bed, squinting as the sun's rays glared in my face. With a low groan, I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes, knowing it wasn't going to work. What time did I gall asleep last night? Very slowly, I climbed out of bed and made my way downstairs, a few floorboards creaking beneath my feet. 

Climbing down the stairs, I found both of my siblings in the kitchen, both surprisingly ready for the day. Emira was standing on some soft of ball while Edric stood by her side, rubbing his side. "Morning Mittens!" Emira called out to me before nearly falling, quickly steadying herself. 

"What was that loud thud?" I croaked in a husky tone, leaning against the wall as I watched the two of them. Emira grabbed onto the counter and got off the ball, then with a snap, she made it disappear. 

"Oh, that was me! I fell." Edric laughed, making me roll my eyes. I moved over to the pantry, grabbing a granola bar and tearing it open. "Also, what's up with you Mittens? You look like death." 

"Did you pull another late night?" Emira asked, breaking a small piece of my granola bar off and popping it in her mouth. "Wait! Were you up on call with Luz again?" I tensed up, then shook my head. 

"No." She tried to reach for another piece of my food, but I swatted her hand away. I took a bite, leaning onto the cool counter top. 

"Alright then, were you up late because of your gay thoughts about Luz?" Edric asked, leaning on my shoulder. That made me choke on my food, a violent coughing fit hitting me while my siblings just laughed. 

I shook my head, but my siblings folded their arms and rolled their eyes. "Nice try Mittens, but you can't deny it now." Emira said as she gave me a rough pat on the back, clearing my airways. 

Lightly holding my throat and taking deep breaths, I glared at both of my siblings, who clearly didn't care. "So what were you thinking about?" Edric pried, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Nothing!" I snapped, but that only made their smirks grow wider. 

"Aww, were you thinking about holding hands with your crush?" Edric started to tease, making me blush. I shoved him back towards Em, who managed to catch our brother. 

"Or were you thinking giving her a kiss?" Emira chimed in, making me groan. I moved over to the table and put my head down, struggling to cover my face, which was undoubtedly some shade of red. "Looks like we've got our answers Ed."

"Both of you need to shut up." I growled, which made the two of them laugh. They both placed a hand on my shoulder, making me lift my head up slightly to look at the two of them. 

They were both still smirking, shooting each other sly glances. "Poor little Mittens doesn't like getting called out~" Edric said in a singsong tone as he took a seat at the table. 

"Such a shame it's so easy to do." Emira sighed, making me perk up. 

"Oh hush, you're not any harder to call out." I hissed at my sister before standing up. "Anyways, I'm gonna go get ready for the day, I've got stuff I've gotta do at noon." I paused, then glared at both of my siblings. "Do not make a joke about Luz." 

While Emira busted up laughing, Edric leaned his chin on his fist. "What do you have to do today anyways?" 

"I've got to go get some new strings before the next gig, then Luz and I are gonna hang out." I stated, making Edric wiggle his eyebrows. 

"Oh~ Gonna go hang out with Luz~" My expression dropped, then I rolled my eyes and started to go up the stairs. "And hey! Tell the old shopkeeper I say hi!" 

Going back up to my room, I quickly stripped off my pajamas and threw on a new outfit consisting of a simple grey t-shirt with a small picture of an abomination hand by my heart and a pair of black jeans. 

Glancing at myself in the mirror, I pulled my hair up in its usual half ponytail. I stared at my outfit for a moment, straightening out the pretty much nonexistent wrinkles in my shirt. 

"Would this be alright? It's not too casual, right?" I asked out loud to no one, fiddling with the collar of my shirt. My gaze drifted over to my closet for a moment, but then I shook my head. 

The outfit looked fine, it's not like it was a date. "And besides, it's Luz! She's not gonna care." I chuckled, but it quickly died. "At least... I don't think she will." My ears slowly went down as I looked at my outfit once again, now nitpicking a bunch of details about it. 

Maybe five minutes into nitpicking, I heard a quick knock at my door. "Mittens what are you doing?" Edric asked as he peered into my room, Emira following after him. 

"Getting an outfit for the day." I muttered, making them laugh. Both of them came into view of my mirror, leaning on my shoulders. 

"Are you trying to impress Luz?" Emira asked with a smirk. I blinked, then slowly turned to her, furrowing my eyebrows together. 

"Listen here, you aren't any better." Her ears went down slightly and Edric turned to look over at her. "I've still got the messages to prove it." Edric's eyes then widened. 

"Hey wait a minute, what'd I miss?" He laughed, moving over towards Em with a smirk on his face. "You're telling me that Mittens has blackmail on you that I don't?" Our brother then turned to me, pulling Em in a quick headlock to keep her in place. "Quick Mittens, how much you want for that blackmail?" 

I just rolled my eyes, drawing a spell to separate the two of them. Then, I started to push the two of them out of my room. "C'mon Mittens! Don't you need some help?" Emira said with a smile, making me shake my head. 

"Nope, don't need any help. Don't you guys have something better to do?" Edric shook his head, gripping onto my doorway. 

"Not me." He said with a smile, but Emira dawned a subtle look of realization. 

"Actually, that reminds me. I've gotta go meet up with Matt today." That made me and Edric raise an eyebrow. "He wanted me to help him check the speakers." 

"Just you alone?" Edric questioned, folding his arms with a smirk. "Are you sure you aren't sneaking off somewhere to meet someone?" A pale blush rose to our sister's cheeks, but she just smirked. 

"Yes I'm sure. In fact, the reason he wants only me is because he said you'd be too obnoxious to deal with." A look of hurt flashed in Edric's eyes, but he covered it up and placed a hand over his heart in offense. 

"Wow... now I should just tag along with you and really get under his skin." He let out an evil chuckle, rubbing his hands together as he started to mumble something about how he was going to prank him. 

"Please, don't do that." Emira said, her tone laced with exasperation. "I've already got to put up with his poor attitude, I don't want to deal with him while he's on edge. You can drop by after we're done with the speakers." 

"Aw c'mon sis, no need to be a buzzkill. That's Mittens job." Edric jabbed his thumb in my direction, making me groan. I continued to shove them out the door. 

"Alright you two, you can continue your conversation outside of my room." I said, shutting the door on the two of them. They continued their conversation outside the door, their voices muffled. 

Moving over to my bed, I took a seat with a sigh. Pulling out my scroll, I took a glance at the time. It was only a little after ten, meaning I still had two hours until I could meet up with Luz. 

With a low groan, I laid down on my bed, silently wondering what I should do to pass the time. After about five minutes of silence, I finally decided to just scroll mindlessly through Pentsa. 

Time passed and I eventually glanced back up at the time, finding that if I didn't leave now, I'd be late. Jumping up out of bed, I quickly threw on a pair of shoes and went downstairs, finding Edric sprawled out in the living room. 

He gave me a halfhearted wave goodbye, completely transfixed by his scroll. Emira was nowhere to be found, making me assume that she had already left to help Matt. 

I started to speed walk to the studio, silently cursing myself for not leaving earlier. The sun hung high in the sky, making me feel uncomfortably warm. "Gods it was a mistake to wear a dark outfit." I muttered, pulling at the collar of my shirt slightly. 

The studio came into view and I quickly picked up my pace. Making my way to the door and pulling it open, I quickly darted off to the sound room, passing by Em and Matt, who were sitting in the main room. 

"Heya Mittens!" Emira greeted, Matt grunting in response. 

"Hi guys." I muttered, pulling open the door to the sound room and grabbing my guitar case. "See you around." Giving the two a short wave, I left the studio and started to make my way to the market, slowing down my pace slightly. 

A griffon screeched somewhere in the distance, its cry echoing in the sky. "Alright, just gotta play it cool. We're just going to the shop, then we're gonna go hang out." 

I took a deep breath, stifling the growing blush on my face at the thought of the two of us hanging out alone. A bit more walking later and I arrived at the edge of the market, which already bustled full of people. 

With a low sigh, I slowly made my way into the market, remembering where Luz told us to meet. I pulled out my scroll, checking the time once again. It was noon. "Great... I'm late." I wouldn't be too late, but it still irritated me. 

Searching for the owl lady's stand in the market was always a little frustrating. I swear, she was constantly moving the location of her stand. Finally, I managed to spot the tip of her tent and I made my way over to the spot. 

Weaving through the stands, I found that there was a giant crowd in front of the owl lady's stand. "I'll take it for twenty snails." A gruff voice said towards the front of the crowd. I tried to move to the side to get a better view of the stand. 

"Sorry buddy, but there's no negotiating. This price is dead set." A familiar voice said, making me perk up. The guy grumbled before fishing in his pockets and setting the right amount of snails on the counter. Then, he grabbed his item and walked off, the rest of the crowd pushing forward. 

Then, from the side of the tent, emerged the owl lady. She stared at the crowd for a moment, then turned towards the counter with a smile. I decided to slowly walk over towards her, watching the crowd slowly move forward. 

The owl lady saw me, a smirk appearing on her face as she folded her arms over her chest. "Good to see you kid, here to see if your book's in stock?" She greeted, making me shake my head. 

"Good to see you too owl lady. And no, I'm not here for that." The owl lady shook her head, ruffling my hair slightly. 

"I already told you kid, just call me Eda." Eda snorted when I shot her a glare, swatting her hand away. She popped her fingers, glancing over at the stand once again. "So, if you aren't here for that, I assume you're here for Luz?" 

Slowly nodding my head, that made her smile and laugh. "What's so funny?" I asked. 

"Oh nothing, nothing." She waved me off, side glancing at the crowd. "Well, it might be a bit of a wait, since she's managing the suckers." I slowly nodded my head, glancing over to see Luz leaning onto the counter as she negotiated with her new customer. 

"Yeah, but that's alright." She glanced down at me, then sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder. I gave her a slightly confused look. 

"Well then, c'mon. Don't need you to fry out here in the sun." Eda kept her hand on my shoulder as we walked side by side, I could hear her mumble something under her breath about how Luz would kill her if she left me. 

"Where are we going?" I asked, looking up at the silver haired witch. She motioned towards the tent. 

"The back of the tent. Hopefully you can put up with the rascal back there while you wait." I glanced at her confused for a moment, then it dawned on me that she meant King. 

We both went to the back of her tent and she lifted the flap up, motioning for me to go inside. "Thanks." I mumbled, carefully walking inside. My gaze landed on the multiple items that littered the floor and covered the walls, noticing they were all human items. 

"No problem kiddo. I'll let Luz know you're back here." She looked behind me, her eyes falling on something in a chair. "Hey King! Don't kill this one." I looked back at where she was, finding the demon's yellow eyes staring at me. 

Then, Eda left, moving towards the front of the stand. King trotted over towards me, his eyes slanting downwards. "What are you doing here?" He asked, a bit of venom in his voice. 

"Oh, I came to hang out with Luz." I muttered, setting my guitar case down and taking a seat on the ground. King huffed, folding his arms over his chest and turning away from me. 

"So you're just here to steal my buddy away from me again." He growled, making me roll my eyes. 

"No, I'm not here to steal your buddy." King spun back around to face me, his eyes still slanted downwards. "Technically, it was Luz's idea to hang out anyways."

"Either way, you're still stealing her away." He huffed, taking a few steps closer to me. "And there's only one way to make up for that." 

"Which would be?" He suddenly hopped up on my lap, getting comfortable. 

"Scratchies." The demon demanded, flipping on his back and pointing at his stomach. "The King of demons needs them. And if you don't give them, I'll use you for the next sacrifice." 

I rolled my eyes, hovering one of my hands above him. "How do I know you won't bite me if I try?" The tiny demon hesitated for a moment, blinking a few times before just folding his arms. 

"Just do it right and I won't." Slowly shaking my head, I started to give the demon what he wanted, gently scratching his sides. "Oh yeah, right there is a good spot." He mumbled, stretching his arms out over his head. 

Chuckling softly, I shook my head. "I can see why Luz likes you so much." King flipped over onto his stomach with a soft sigh, motioning for me to keep going. 

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" His voice sounded a lot more relaxed than before, making me crack half a smile. 

"You're pretty cute." King suddenly flipped back over, an angry look in his eyes. 

"I'm not cute!" He squeaked, but stopped when I started to scratch a different section of his stomach. The flap at the front of the tent suddenly opened, light pooling into the room. 

Looking up, I saw Luz standing there, looking back at the stand. "Thanks Eda! We'll be at the owl house if you ever need us!" She turned to face us and then her face lit up. "Oh my gosh, you two are so cute!" 

King jumped up out of my lap, stamping his foot on the ground. "I told you, I'm not cute! I'm supposed to be feared!" Luz just shook her head, scooping up the demon in her arms. 

"You're right, you're absolutely terrifying." She gave him a little tap on the nose, then put him down. Turning to me, she gave me a smile. "You ready to go?" I gave her a nod, standing up and picking up my guitar case. "Great! Lead the way!" 

We both went to the back of the tent as Luz gave King a quick goodbye. Then, we started to make our way through the market. Not wanting to walk in silence, I struck up a conversation with her, asking her about her day so far. 

She started to ramble about her morning at the stand, talking about all the different kinds of witches she sold items to. I happily listened to her talk, nodding my head to what she was saying. 

"Oh wait! I've got to show you what Eda taught me this morning!" She quickly started to pat down her pockets, frowning before turning to me. "Do you have a paper and pen on you by any chance?" 

"Nope." Luz scowled, then put on a quick smile. 

"Alright, hold on be right back!" She suddenly darted off, leaving me standing alone. While I waited for her to come back, I got this weird feeling that someone was staring at me. 

I slowly glanced around, not seeing anyone looking at me. Shaking my head, I shrugged it off that I was just being oddly paranoid. "You're just nervous because you're with Luz, that's all." I told myself.

"Amity! I'm back!" Luz's voice made me jump, and turning in her direction, I saw her running towards me. She skidded to a stop, bending down with her hands on her knees for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. 

"Are you okay?" I asked, earning me a nod. She took in a few more gulps of air, then stood up straight. In her hands was a piece of paper and a pencil. 

"Sorry, I had to go back to Eda's stand and snag some supplies!" She said, still out of breath. "But watch this!" Luz quickly started scribbling on the paper, drawing out a rune. 

Once she finished it, she closed her eyes, then tapped the paper. The rune lit up and a small blue outline of a feather appeared above it. Luz opened her eyes, then her face lit up. "Oh wow..." I said softly, staring at the small illusion in awe. 

"I know right! It's so cool!" She pressed down on the feather, making the paper disappear in the process. "Though, that's about how big I can make them. I don't really know how to make them any bigger yet." 

"Wouldn't you just have to increase the size of the rune?" I asked, but she shook her head. 

"No, I tried doing that, but it didn't work. Dunno why though. All the other spells I can do increase in size when I do that." Then she shrugged, placing the pencil in her pocket. "I'll figure out how to do it eventually!" 

"I'm sure you will." I said with a smile, turning away from her slightly as a pink blush rose to my cheeks. There was a moment of silence, then I noticed Luz turn towards me. 

"So how was your morning?" She asked, a big grin on her face. I adjusted my grip on my guitar case and shrugged. 

"The same as most." Luz nodded her head, now glancing around at the different stands. We both fell silent, slowly moving through the market. 

"Where's the shop you need to go to?" Luz finally asked, popping her fingers as she continued to look around. 

"Oh, it's towards the back corner of the market. It's more like an actual building than a stand." I could see her furrow her eyebrows slightly, rubbing her chin. 

"I don't think I've ever seen that place." She finally muttered, making me chuckle. 

"It was constructed last year, that's why you've never seen it." Luz nodded her head, a soft oh escaping her mouth. We both made our way between a set of stands selling different kinds of pelts and once we made it to the other side, I could see a glimpse of the building in the distance. 

The rest of the walk was short, and we finally made it up to the door of the building. "This place looks nice." Luz commented, making me nod. 

"Sells some of the best band stuff. I've been going here ever since the band started." I said, placing my hand on my hip. "You can stay out here if you want." I told Luz, who nodded her head. 

"Alright! Besides, I saw something cool at a stand over there and I wanted to get a closer look." She gave me a quick wink and salute, then started to head off towards the stand. 

"Just meet back over here when you're done!" I called after her, earning me a thumbs up. There was a bit of blush rising to my cheeks that I tried to shake away as I entered the shop. 

The little bell above me rang, earning the old shop owner's attention. He adjusted his glasses, then his eyes lit up when he recognized me. "Amity! Good to see you here again!" His gruff voice seemed to soften. 

"It's great to see you too Avalon." I smiled, setting my case down on the counter and cracking it open. I could see the excitement fill his grey eyes when I revealed my guitar. 

"Keeping good care of your instrument I see." He said, carefully taking my guitar out of its case and looking it over. I chuckled, leaning on the counter. 

"Why wouldn't I be?" I joked, making him chuckle as well. He set it down on the counter, running one of his fingers over the body. 

"So what are you in here for?" He asked, his eyes meeting mine. 

"Came to get some new strings before the next gig." Avalon nodded his head, gently plucking one of the strings. Then he turned around, heading towards the door behind the counter. 

"Give me a moment and I'll be back with the strings." I didn't say anything as I watched him disappear into the back room. While I waited, I started to drum my fingers against the counter. 

Someone else entered the shop, the little bell ringing over their head. I glanced over in their direction, finding some guy maybe as tall as Luz walk into the shop. 

I didn't pay him any mind and turned my gaze back to the counter, watching as Avalon reappeared from the back room with a packet of strings in his hand. "Here's your usual." He smiled, passing me the packet. 

Fishing in my pockets, I pulled out the correct amount of snails and placed them on the counter, sliding them over to him. "Thanks Avalon." He gave me a nod as I put my guitar and its new strings back in its case. 

"When is your next gig anyways?" He asked as he pushed his glasses further up on his face. I closed my case and made sure it latched shut. 

"Four days from now." I stated, making his eyes widen slightly in surprise. 

"Didn't you guys just have a show yesterday?" I nodded my head, making him softly shake his. "Wow, you guys are busy." I nodded my head again, a low chuckle rising from my throat. "Well, make sure you tell the rest of your band I say hi, come back if you ever need anything, alright?"

"Alright." I spun around, taking my guitar case off the counter before pausing. "Oh, and Ed says hi by the way." Avalon smiled, giving me a slight nod before turning around and heading back into the back room. 

I glanced outside, seeing that Luz still wasn't there. Instead of going out and waiting in the sun, I decided to take a look around the rest of the shop. I slowly moved around, my eyes traveling along the walls of different guitars and instrument pieces. 

Traveling towards another section of the store, I could hear footsteps behind me. Pausing, I pretended to be looking at an item while I looked behind me, finding the guy who walked in earlier standing not too far away. 

He had his hood up, hiding most of his face. That put me on edge, however, I tried to shake away the feeling. After all, he was probably just looking around for something. I continued to look around, and soon enough, I was hearing his footsteps start again. 

"Is he following me?" I asked myself, sending another wary glance in his direction. He was still walking behind me, keeping his head low. 

Yeah, it was time to leave. 

I subtly picked up my pace and walked out the door, Luz still nowhere in sight. The door opened behind me, so I just started walking. I went to the edge of the building and quickly turned the corner, hoping there would be some kind of way around the building to escape. 

Instead, I found myself at a dead end alleyway. 

"Fuck." I muttered, turning back around and nearly slamming right into the guy. He grabbed my wrist and pinned me against he building, making me freeze up out of surprise. 

"Don't even think about screaming." His voice was low and gruff, making my ears go down in fear. 

My breathing got faster, but I tried to keep my cool. Putting on a neutral face and swallowing down my nervousness, I stared him down for a moment. "What do you want?" I asked, a little surprised I managed to keep my voice from wavering. 

He chuckled, then reached up with his free hand and pulled off his hood, revealing his silver blue hair and sharp, serpent like eyes. He gave me a toothy smile, revealing his pointed teeth. 

"Thought I'd just say hi to my idol." He drew a quick spell, then wrapped his hand around my other arm, keeping me in place. "That's all." His voice sent shivers down my spine, but I refused to let it show. 

"Well if you thought this was the best way to do it, you'd be wrong." I growled, still staring him down. He started to chuckle, his grip tightening. Swallowing, I continued to stare him down, waiting for him to drop his guard. 

If I could get him to falter, even if it was just for a moment, I'd be able to cast an abomination spell to pull him off of me. His eyes focused back on mine, his pupils slimming down to thin slits. 

"I know it isn't ideal, but this was better than the first plan." He smiled, making me silently question what he originally planned to do. Taking in a shaky breath, my eyes darted down to his jacket, which rattled slightly with each breath he took. 

"So what do you want? An autograph?" I hissed, my grip on my guitar case tightening. He shook his head, taking his hand off of my arm that was holding my case. But, when I tried to move it strike him, I found I couldn't. 

He used a spell to freeze me in place, that bastard. 

His hand moved up to the side of my face, gently cupping my cheek with a smile. 

Oh fuck no. Not happening. 

While his thumb brushed against my cheek, I used my hand he had still pinned up against the wall to quickly draw a spell circle. I felt the circle connect and smiled, but nothing happened. 

Panic quickly started to set in, which I struggled not to show on my face. I tried to draw the spell again, receiving the same results. He finally noticed my movement and side glanced at my hand, then chuckled, shaking his head. 

Slowly, he reached into his hoodie and pulled up on a chain, showing me the necklace he was wearing. My eyes widened when I realized he was wearing a relic, which was glowing a pale purple with power. 

"Do you like it?" He asked with a smirk, letting the necklace hang off of his neck. I stared at it for a moment, then back up at him. "I figured I'd need it if I wanted to talk to you." 

I wanted to ask how he was even able to get a hold of one of those considering the fact they were not only extremely rare, but also illegal to own, but another thought came to mind. "You have some kind of weapon, don't you?" My voice wavered slightly and I mentally kicked myself for it. 

He looked surprised, then started to laugh. "Wow, you're pretty smart." He snorted, wiping away a tear from his eye. With a sigh, he grabbed onto his jacket, his fingers rubbing the fabric. "But don't worry, if you don't put up much of a fuss, I won't have to use it. After all, the noise would probably attract people." 

What did he even have? I knew he had some kind of potions on him based on the sounds his jacket was making, but what else did he have on him. A knife? Some kind of blunt object? 

"So what do you want from me?" I asked again, knowing there was something else he had to have wanted if he came this prepared. His grin grew a little wider. 

"I just wanted to see how you treat your biggest fan." That made me raise an eyebrow. Then, I noticed how he was slowly leaning in closer, making my eyes widen. I turned my head to the side, making him growl in annoyance. 

He grabbed onto the bottom of my chin, roughly turning me to face him. He opened his mouth to say something, anger flaring in his eyes. But, before he tried to make another move, a voice rang out and stopped him. 

"Hey!"


	15. Bang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just got four things to say to you people 
> 
> 1\. I'm sorry  
> 2\. I hope ya'll realize this is why I put angst in the tags  
> 3\. The line to punch me through your screens start here  
> 4\. This guy is all free game, do whatever you wish to him

Amity POV:

"Hey!"

"Oh gods why now?" I thought. His grip on my wrist loosened as the anger left his eyes, and for a moment I thought it was replaced with fear as his ears went down in shock. Both of us slowly turned to the alleyway opening. 

And just like I feared, there was Luz, who was looking beyond pissed. 

The creep's eyes widened, his ears somehow going down even further. Then, a low growl erupted from his throat, his eyebrows furrowing tightly together. From what I could see, the anger in his eyes was reignited, this time this time from a low flame to a whole bonfire. 

He put even more pressure on my wrist, making me wince in pain. Luz noticed, and took a few steps closer. I tried to get her to stop, violently shaking my head. I knew she didn't have any paper on her, and even if she did, her magic would probably be rendered useless due to his relic. "I can't move!" I mouthed, but she didn't pay any attention. 

No, her full attention was on the guy holding me in place, glaring at him so hard he'd probably drop dead if it was possible. "Back. Up." Her grave tone made my eyes widen. I couldn't think of another time where I heard her voice like that. 

Her voice is normally bubbly, the kind that makes you perk up when you hear it. 

Now, it was cold, monotone and full of venom, matching the look in her eyes. 

And that scared me most. It wasn't the guy that's managed to render me defenseless, the guy who could kill me in an instant, no. It was Luz, who not only looked like she was about to rip this guy limb from limb, but she could also get hurt in the process.

"Luz Noceda." He hissed, startling me. He knew her name? They've met before? When? Somehow, that didn't phase her and she simply took another step closer, her hands clenched into tight fists. 

"Luz, stop-" I started, but he quickly snapped his head back in my direction, shooting me an intense glare. 

"Not another word." He told me, tightening his grip once again on my wrist. I glared at him, hoping he couldn't see how afraid I was. Suddenly, a small rock nailed him in the side of the head, making him twitch. 

"Did you not hear me? I said back the fuck up!" She yelled, once again taking me by surprise with her cursing. I heard the creep huff, then he backed up. I still couldn't move, meaning that whatever spell he cast earlier was still in place. 

"Why do you always have to ruin things?" He hissed, folding his arms over his chest. Luz tensed up, struggling to find something to say. 

"Are you serious right now?" She angrily waved her hands around for a moment, murderous intent in her eyes. "The only thing I'm doing is stopping you from being a creep!" 

The guy popped his fingers, his lip twitching before curling into a sick smile. "Well then, if you want me to stop, you'll have to do it yourself." 

"Or, you could just leave." Luz glared, holding her ground as he took a few steps closer until he was right in front of her. Then, he leaned down until he was in her face. 

"And what will you do if I don't?" His voice fell low, just barely loud enough for me to hear where I was at. 

"Te haré suplicar piedad." She stated, confusing the guy slightly. He laughed, taking a step back as he held his sides, absolutely losing it. I frantically tried to move while he was laughing, hoping that he was distracted enough to let the spell slip. 

Unfortunately, the spell remained unwavering, leaving me stuck in place. I tried to signal Luz to leave, but when she saw what I was doing, she shook her head. 

I may love the fact that she can be stubborn when she needs to be, but right now I didn't. 

"Was that supposed to be some kind of spell?" The guy finally managed to get out before wheezing, shakily reaching up to his neck to show her the relic. "Good luck trying to get that to work!" 

Luz blinked a few times, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She glanced back at me, her eyes searching for answers. "It's a relic!" I managed to say, but quickly froze in place when I felt something wrap around my neck. 

The guy clenched his hand into a fist, tightening the thing around my neck, which I assumed was a binding spell. "I told you, not another word." His tone suddenly shifted to a serious one. He made sure it was tight enough around my neck to be uncomfortable, but not enough to strangle me. 

Yet.

Suddenly, Luz grabbed onto the guy's shirt with no hesitation, pulling him back down to her level. "Let her go. Now." He quickly shoved Luz away, making her stumble and nearly fall. She quickly regained her balance, making sure she didn't look away from him for even a second. 

He pulled back on his jacket, revealing two bottles of some bright green liquid. Grabbing one in each hand, he shot Luz a cocky smile. "Come on then human!" He spat, making her twitch. "You want me to let her go? You're gonna have to force me!" 

"We really should've taken care of you last time we saw you." Luz hissed, holding her fists up. I shot her a confused look, still wondering how this guy knew who Luz was, let alone whatever she meant by that. 

Then, before I could even blink, Luz was barreling towards the guy, ready to hit him. He immediately threw one of his bottles at her, which she narrowly avoided. It shattered on the ground, burning and eating away at the dirt. 

My eyes widened as I watched him wind up for another throw. At this point, I could feel the spell around my neck loosening, meaning that he was losing his focus. I struggled to move my arms again, finding that I could just barely inch them forward. 

"If she can just distract him a little longer, he'll lose focus and I can tackle him." I thought to myself, watching the fight that was unfolding. A hint of guilt crept up in my head at the thought that Luz was acting like bait right now, but I shoved it down. The creep threw his second bottle, which Luz was barely able to duck under. 

She popped back up and instantly right hooked him, making him stumble. He hesitated for a minute, wiping his nose as blood began to pour from it. Luz flapped her hand she used to hit him with, grimacing at the pain. 

"You hit hard..." He chuckled, slowly breaking out into full blown laughter. "But not hard enough!" Drawing another spell circle, he launched Luz into the wall. She smacked the wall fairly hard, then fell to the floor. 

I could see she was struggling to get up, resting on her elbows because the wind was knocked out of her. She reached up to feel the back of her head, whining in response. The creep walked over and picked her up by the collar, dangling her off the ground. 

"Stop! Please!" I begged, watching as he tightened his fist again, probably to tighten the spell around my neck. However, it did nothing, because the spell had already worn off. Either he didn't notice or didn't care because he turned back to Luz. 

"Is that really all you got? One little hit to the wall and you're through?" He taunted, Luz wrapped her hands around his wrists, keeping a tight grip as she dug her nails into his skin. Her eyebrows tightly furrowed together, but she didn't say anything. For a second, I could see her eyes flick over to me, probably seeing the fear plastered on my face. 

Her gaze turned back to his, a new fire ignited inside her eyes. "Nope!" Luz shot him a smirk, then she spat in his face and kicked him in the chest, effectively getting him to let go. He stumbled back with a wheeze, trying to clear his vision. Luz landed feet first on the ground, then charged towards the guy with a loud battle cry. 

She jumped up and managed to land another solid hit on the guy, making him fall to the floor. She kept throwing punches, and with each one, I could feel more and more of the spell wear off. 

But, Luz's punching suddenly stopped and she froze in place. I could see her struggle to bring her fist back down to his face. Then, she was suddenly flung back towards the opening of the alleyway, rolling a little ways before bringing herself to her feet. 

The creep managed to get up, stumbling slightly. Luz started charging towards him again, but froze once again. "Not. Another. Step." He growled, sounding out of breath as he wiped a sleeve under his bleeding nose. 

He drew another spell circle, summoning some kind of item in his hand. It was some kind of rectangle that had a brown handle and a trigger, something I didn't recognize. 

But based on Luz's reaction, she did. 

Her eyes widened, her expression dropping as her entire face went pale. She stared in fear at whatever he was holding. I heard it click, then he slowly pointed it in my direction. 

I stared at the thing he pointed at me with, noting the hollow circle in the middle and that it seemed to be made of some kind of metal. "Don't!" Luz exclaimed, reaching out towards him. Her tone completely shifted, instead of being angry and full of venom, now it was full of panic and desperation. 

The creep laughed, still pointing the thing at me. "Don't what?" He asked, making Luz swallow. From where I was standing, I could see she was trembling, her eyes darting from me to him. 

Luz's reaction was making me tense, the longer he kept that thing pointed at me, the more I started to shake. What was that thing even capable of?

"How do you even have one of those? They're, they're not..." She stuttered, maintaining eye contact with him. He laughed again, lowering the rectangle weapon as he ran a hand through his hair. 

"That doesn't concern you." He laughed again, reaching for the relic around his neck. "Though I'd have to say, it was a lot easier to get this little thing than this stupid charm." 

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Luz cried, still staring at the weapon in his hand. The creep tilted his head, then chuckled. 

"Sure I do." He pointed the weapon to the side, not breaking eye contact from Luz. "You just point this at whatever you want and pull the trigger." He pretended to pull the trigger, acting like it had recoil. "Then bam!" 

He aimed the weapon back in my direction, Luz tensing up in response. I could see her chest rapidly moving up and down as she tried to think of what to do

There was maybe three seconds of silence, then Luz lunged at the creep. They both fought over the weapon, Luz desperately trying to rip it from his hands. 

His concentration was split between me and Luz, meaning that he couldn't fully focus on the spell. I could now barely move my arms, but I still couldn't move my legs, meaning I was still useless to the situation.

The creep let go of the weapon with one hand, baring his teeth. "You really have a death wish, don't you?" He yelled, roughly punching her across the face, making me gasp. Luz stumbled back, holding the cheek where she was struck. 

With no hesitation, he aimed the weapon at Luz. 

Then there was a loud bang. 

My ears instantly started ringing, making me drop my guitar case to bring my hands up to my ears and cover them. My eyes tightly closed and I felt myself move forward slightly, but I was too busy trying to figure out what had happened to care. 

Opening my eyes, I looked over towards Luz only to see her collapsed on the ground with hints of red scattered around her. The creep waved his weapon around, saying something that I couldn't understand. The ringing slowly started to thin out, his voice becoming clear. 

"You really had no idea what you were doing, did you?" His voice sounded muffled to me, but I could still understand what he was saying. "Wow, if I knew it would've been this easy I would've just wiped you out last time." 

He took a step closer to Luz, who struggled to scoot away from him, whimpering the entire time. Bending down to her level, I watched as he roughly grabbed her face and pulled her up, giving me a good view of her pale, tear stricken face. He said something to her, but he said it too quiet for me to hear.

Throwing her back down to the ground, I could hear her hiss in response, curling into a tight ball. The creep laughed and stood up straight, placing his free hand on his hip. 

Then, he aimed the weapon at Luz again, a big murderous smirk on his face. "I hope you had fun trying to act like a hero, cause now it's time for you to die like one." 

My eyes widened as his words quickly sunk in. It took me a second to realize that the spell had worn off, probably because he was distracted by the sound his weapon made. So, without even thinking, I snagged my guitar case off the ground and sprinted towards him. When I was only a few steps away, he finally realized I was moving. He turned his head in my direction, but that's as far as he got. 

I slammed my guitar case in his face, a sickening crack following after. The weapon dropped from his hand as he twisted and fell face first to the floor, knocked out cold. I heard something break under him, which I assumed was the relic. That made me wince, knowing just how rare relics are. 

Kicking the weapon away from him, I gave him a swift kick to the side of the head. His head turned and I could see just how much blood was flowing from his now broken nose. 

Luz let out a low whine, diverting my attention from the guy. I quickly knelt down next to her, instantly noticing how she was clutching her side. "Luz?" My voice was thick and I didn't even bother to hide it. "What did he..." I slowly trailed off, my gut dropping like a ball of lead when I caught onto the amount of red that was spilling between her fingers. 

She barely lifted up her shaking hand, wincing at the sight. "This... really hurts." She managed to get out with half a chuckle before she broke out into a fit of coughing, red spilling past her lips. My brain kicked into overdrive, bringing both of my hands down over hers and putting pressure, hoping to stunt the bleeding, the metallic smell of blood hitting my senses. 

I grimaced at the feeling of warm blood, Luz hissing in response to the contact. "You're an idiot! Just throwing yourself in there like that!" I told her in a shaky voice, bringing one of my hands up to cast a healing spell. But, halfway through the spell, I paused. 

Healing spells could easily revert wounds like these, patching them up like they were nothing, but that was how it worked for witches. Luz is human, I had no idea if the spell would react any differently to her, maybe make things worse rather than better. Not only that, but I have no idea what else that weapon did to Luz, so who says that some kind of spell wouldn't somehow aggravate it? 

With a shaking hand, I wiped away the half cast spell, noticing just how heavy my breathing had gotten. Luz tried to shift, but stopped moving soon after, her face scrunching up in pain. "Hey... at least I managed... to get him away from you." She managed to say with half a smile, barely cracking open an eye to look at me. 

Even though I could see she was in pain, her face flashed with concern as she brought a clean hand up to my face. She cupped my cheek, her thumb wiping away a tear that I didn't even know was there. I knew there was no point in her action, because the tear was quickly replaced.

"That doesn't matter! You rushed in without any spells and now you're hurt!" My voice cracked as I struggled to swallow a sob. She gave half a smile, but I could feel her trembling. 

"Better me... than you." Her eyes fluttered for a moment, nearly closing before forcing themselves open. Tears ran down her face, but she seemed to ignore them. 

"No! Not better you than me!" I hissed, watching her hand fall from my face and catch onto my shoulder. I couldn't just sit here and let her bleed out, I had to do something. Spells wouldn't work, and pretty much no one dropped by this part of the market, so there was only one other option I could think of. 

"Amity..." She started, her eyes halfway open. I shook my head, blinking away the tears to clear my vision. 

"Please, just save your strength." I begged before taking a deep breath. "And I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." Before she could question anything, I scooped her up off the ground. She let out a low whimper, gripping onto her blood soaked shirt as she leaned her head on my shoulder, a few curses escaping her lips while I frantically apologized. 

My eyes caught my guitar case for a moment, but I shook my head. I could leave it behind, no one was around this part of the market anyways. And besides, Luz was much more important than some guitar. 

I dashed out of the alleyway opening, making sure to keep a tight grip on Luz the entire time. She kept her head leaned against my shoulder, struggling to put pressure on her wound. 

Glancing down at her, I noticed just how pale she really was. The bags under her eyes seemed so dark now compared to before where you could barely tell they were there. Her eyes would flutter shut for a moment, but she'd quickly open them in an attempt to stay awake. 

"Gods why does the hospital have to be so far?" I panted as I made it to the edge of the market, still running. My legs were going numb and my lungs felt like they were on fire, but my mind kept screaming at me not to stop. 

"Ami...ty?" Luz managed to whisper, looking up at me. I glanced down at her, noticing how more tears were gathering in her eyes. She was afraid, it wasn't hard to see.

"Luz, stop talking, just save your energy." I managed to say, but she softly shook her head. I could see her hand slipping off of her wound, her head leaning with more weight against my shoulder, the little bit of energy she had left was slowly dwindling away. 

"But you... deserve to know. Especially if... I'm gonna die." She mumbled, nearly making me trip. I quickly picked up my pace despite the fact my legs felt like they were on the brink of collapsing. 

"You aren't going to die!" My voice faltered, more tears blurring my vision. "You won't! You can't... I can't lose you like this." I tried to keep my voice steady, but failed as a sob pushed past my lips. "You're going to be just fine, I promise." I managed to choke out.

Luz let out half a wheeze, which I assumed was supposed to be a laugh. "Still... better be safe... rather than sorry." Another half a wheeze escaped her, her fingers slowly teasing with her shirt. "Cause hey... if I do survive we... could probably have a happy little ending." Her breathing was shallow, which was starting to send me into a panic.

I could feel myself slowing down, and I couldn't stop that if I tried. We couldn't be too far away from the hospital now, but I still silently cussed out whoever built the town. Who in their right minds would put the market a decent ways away from where the healers were?

"What do you mean?" I managed to say despite being completely out of breath, finally giving up on getting her to stop talking. I glanced down at brown haired girl, the pain written on her face was clear, and it was obvious she was going to slip out of consciousness at any moment. 

Her glazed eyes looked up at mine, as she struggled to put on a smile. Taking a deep breath, I picked up my pace, seeing the vague outline of the hospital in the distance. "Oh thank gods! Please Luz just stay awake a little longer." 

"I... really like you Amity." Luz managed to mumble before letting out a pained chuckle. "Ain't this cliche? Me... telling you this while... I'm dying in your arms. I swear I've read... something like this before." She continued to chuckle, but I could tell it was forced. 

Her words left me floored, nearly making me freeze in place. Nothing came to mind on what I should say back. Under normal circumstances, I'd be a blushing mess, barely able to stutter out a sentence back. But now, with Luz's life on the line, the only thing on my mind was getting her to the healers. 

Then, because I wasn't paying attention, I nearly fell when I tripped over a rock. I managed to keep my balance, but I knew the sudden movement didn't feel good to Luz. Her face twisted up in pain, her bruised knuckles turning white as she clutched onto her blood soaked shirt. 

"Oh gods I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I frantically apologized, feeling her trembling in my grasp. Luz didn't say anything, she just kept her eyes scrunched closed as violent waves of pain wracked her body. 

The outline of the hospital was becoming clearer, so I picked up my pace again. "Hurt..." Luz managed to finally say, her voice just barely above a whisper. Guilt coursed through my veins, knowing that I made it worse. 

"I know it hurts, I know. I'm sorry." Was all I managed to say, more hot tears violently stinging the corners of my eyes. "Just hang on a little longer, please." My voice went into a higher in pitch as more tears rolled down my cheeks. 

She fell silent, making me worry that she passed out from the pain. However, looking down at her, I found her eyes were barely open, struggling to stay awake. Then, she shivered, leaning closer to my body. 

"I'm... getting cold Amity." She mumbled, her voice sounding so vulnerable, a low whimper escaping her lips. "You're warm." I could barely hear her say, her hand sliding off her wound and hanging to the side. 

None of this was good, and it was all my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid and just stayed in the shop when the guy was following me, none of this would've happened. But now, because of my stupid choices, Luz was hurt, Luz had the chance of dying. 

"Luz you've gotta stay awake!" I managed to tell her, feeling my chest tighten when I didn't get an answer. When I looked down at her, I saw her eyes closed, her chest barely moving up and down. "Luz? Luz!" 

That sent a sudden burst of adrenaline through my veins, numbing my legs as I broke out into a faster run. I passed by a few people who stared at me without saying a word. Making my way to the doors of the hospital, I threw them open and stumbled into the room, catching the attention of a few healers and the people waiting inside. 

"Somebody! Please!" Was all I managed to get out before healers started to flock me, one of them taking Luz from me. I watched someone wheel in a cot, then carefully lay Luz down on it. For a moment, I swore her eyes fluttered open, but she laid still as they took her away. 

A few healers recognized who I was while one asked me what happened, floating a clipboard over to take notes. I stood there trembling, explaining to them what happened to her. 

They nodded their head, scribbling down a quick set of notes when I finished before motioning for the other healers to scatter. "Just wait out here, we'll make sure to keep you updated on her status Ms. Blight." I reached out to stop them, but noticed my hands were still sticky with blood. 

I stared at my shaking hands for a moment, feeling my breathing quicken in pace. My eyes darted around, finally finding a bathroom. I dashed over, pushing open the door and locking it behind me, not caring that everyone else was still staring at me. 

Turning to the sink, I stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess and my eyes were red and puffy from crying, my shirt and part of my pants were coated in drying blood. 

Luz's blood.

I turned on the faucet and quickly put my hands under it, watching the red wash down the drain. The sight made me sick, my throat tightening up as my breathing got even faster to the point I was practically hyperventilating. 

Violently scrubbing my hands together, I tried to rub the red away, which only blurred as even more tears filled my vision. My entire body was trembling, the look on Luz's face burned into my mind. 

Once I was satisfied with how clean my hands were, I pulled them away from the water, quickly drying them off. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling just how fast my heart was pounding. 

Tears continued to roll down my cheeks as I stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes remained transfixed on the red staining my shirt, which was only making things worse. 

I backed up until I hit a wall, then I slowly slid down it, wrapping my arms around my knees. Everything that just happened kept playing through my head, finally forcing a sob from my lips. 

And that just opened the floodgates. 

I was an absolute wreck, sobs violently wracking my body as the metallic smell of blood lingered in the air. My body hurt from pushing myself so hard, but I didn't pay that any mind, the only thing I could focus on was Luz. 

This time though, it wasn't in some happy little world in my imagination. Now it was me worrying if she'd pull through, wondering exactly what that creep did to her. 

Then something else hit me, no one else had a clue what was going on. Everyone else was none the wiser that Luz was dying. I quickly summoned my scroll, barely able to read any of my contacts. 

"Emira." I could barely manage squeak out in a shaky voice, tapping on a contact I hoped was hers. "Em will pick up." I hit call and put my scroll up to my ear, listening to it ring while I waited for her to pick up. 

It rang once, twice, then finally a third time before her voicemail started up. A low string of shaky curse escaped my lips as I shut down my scroll, more tears rolling down my cheeks. 

"Pull yourself together." I struggled to say aloud, wiping tears away from my eyes that were quickly replaced with more. "Take a minute to pull yourself together, then call Edric." 

So I sat there on the bathroom floor, struggling to calm myself down while my worry for Luz increased. My tears splattered against the cold tile floor. When I figured I could properly form a sentence, I pulled my scroll back up, giving my brother a call.


	16. The news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes this chapter

Boscha POV: 

"Am I winning?" I asked, glancing up from my cards. Emira snorted while shaking her head, making sure to keep her cards covered. 

"Not even close." She chuckled, placing down another card. I sighed, placing down a card as well. The cards then quickly sprung to life and started attacking one another, making small growling noises. 

Edric sat on a bean bag by us, watching the cards fight. He had messaged me about half an hour ago, asking if I wanted to hang out with them. Since Willow was busy and I had nothing better to do, I agreed. 

So I met up with them at the studio, finding out that he decided to have us meet here since Matt and Emira were already here. When I asked why they were already here, Matt gave a brief response of "Speaker checking." before he disappeared off to his room. 

That left me with the Blight twins, where we just hung out chatting for a little while before Emira challenged me to a game of Hexes Hold'em, with Edric being our spectator. 

"How are you so good at this?" I groaned, feeling frustrated that I was losing. Emira chuckled again, swiping away her few fallen cards. I copied her actions, though I was removing a lot more cards off the table. 

"It's a mix of playing with Ed when we cut class and playing against a lot of people during lunch." Emira told me with a smirk, replacing her fallen cards with new ones from her hand. 

"And how do I know you aren't cheating?" I squinted at her, placing down my next set of cards. The twin laughed as the cards came to life again, hissing and snapping at one another. 

"Boscha, it's damn near impossible to cheat in Hexes Hold'em." Now it was Edric's turn to laugh, shaking his head at his twin. 

"Yeah no, not impossible. After all, that's how the owl lady won against you." Emira froze up, then turned towards her brother, a look of shock flashing across her face. 

"I... are you serious?" Her voice went slightly higher, making Edric laugh even more. He nodded his head, making her eyebrows furrow together. "I lost fifty snails to that game!" 

"What'd you expect?" He paused, taking in a deep breath to stop his laughter. "You told her you were impossible to beat, and she was gonna do anything to prove you wrong. Not only that, but you put money on the line." 

Emira scowled, but that quickly changed when the cards flopped back down. "Emira wins!" The game spat out, the flames dancing in the air for a moment before turning to thin wisps and disappearing. 

I let out a long sigh and threw my remaining cards down on the table, Emira pumped her fist in the air. Then, she shot me a smug look, leaning against the table in her signature pose. 

"Geez, fine." I fished around in my jacket's pockets for a minute, then pulled out five snails and slid them across the table to her. She stopped the coin from falling off with a quick flick of her finger, floating the money right into her pocket. 

"Thank you." She said smugly, folding her arms over one another and placing them on the table. "Wanna play again?" Her eyes held the same mischievous glint it always had, making me roll my eyes. 

"And lose more snails to you? No thanks." I muttered, pulling out my scroll. The Blight twin chuckled, shaking her head. Taking a glance at the time, I realized it was a little after three. "Where'd you say Amity was again?" 

"Oh, she told us this morning that she was heading to the old band shop before hanging out with Luz!" Edric quickly said before stretching his arms over his head with a low sigh. 

"Avalon's shop?" Both the twins nodded. "Oh, I haven't been there in awhile." I muttered, thinking back to the last time I went to that place. Now that I thought about it, I did need to get new strings. 

"You should've seen the look on her face when we started to tease her over the fact she was going to hang out with Luz." Edric started, leaning onto the table. "She got so red in the face." 

"That was also because she was also choking on her breakfast." Emira said, making me chuckle slightly. Edric waved her off, rolling his eyes as he rested his cheek in his palms. 

"Think one of them will confess while they're hanging out?" I asked the two, making them shrug. "Well, let's hope they do it soon, I'm sick of watching them act all flirty." 

"It'll only get worse once they confess." Emira pointed out with a sigh, softly shaking her head. "Poor Mittens is just gonna be bright red all the time. Everyone's gonna think the girl's got a sunburn or something." 

We all chuckled at the thought. "How much were we betting on this again? Sixty-five snails?" Edric asked in between chuckles. 

"Seventy-five snails." Emira quickly corrected, making Edric nod. "And, I hope you two are ready to lose." I rolled my eyes. Emira folded her arms over her chest, a smug smile plastered on her face. 

Edric shook his head, giving his twin a rough pat on the shoulder. "Em, I can't wait for the moment you have to pay both of us, cause I want you to know, not only am I holding it against Mittens, but I'm also holding it against you till the day I die." 

"If it happens, and that's a big if, you've gotta bring it up at their wedding first, then you can taunt me for it." Emira told him, making us laugh. 

"Mittens would kill me for that." He chuckled, ducking under Emira's hand as she went to ruffle his hair. Edric leaned back into the bean bag chair, resting his head on the cushion before pointing a finger in Emira's direction. "But it would be funny." 

"Oh definitely." I chimed in, leaning back slightly in my chair. "Did she say where they were hanging out at?" I asked, both of them shook their heads. 

"Didn't seem like she knew. Though, if I had to guess, they're probably at the owl lady's house. Why do you ask?" I shrugged, turning my gaze back down to my scroll. It buzzed with a message from Willow that had an image attached. Opening the message I found her posing by one of her plants, then she sent me a heart. 

"Just curious is all." Smiling, I sent Willow a few hearts in response before putting my scroll away again. We all fell silent, the twins both pulling out their scrolls for a moment. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Emira's eyebrows furrow together. 

"Huh? I thought this thing had full battery?" She muttered, lightly tapping the side of her scroll before sighing. Edric snorted, shaking his head at his sister. Matt then wandered out of his room, dragging his feet as he kept his eyes glued down to his scroll. 

"Heya there Matty!" Emira called out in a tone, making him groan and look up from his scroll. "Wanna play a game of Hexes Hold'em?" Matt furrowed his eyebrows together, looking Emira up and down for a moment. 

"Against you?" He muttered, making Emira nod. "Not happening then." His voice held this tone of annoyance, but that didn't seem to phase Emira. She just shrugged, then started gathering up the cards to put them away, but I stopped her.

"Double or nothing." I told her, making her smirk. 

"Why have you been cooped up in your room the whole time?" Edric asked Matt as he started to walk away, making him freeze in place. He free hand slowly balled into a fist. 

"Because I don't want to deal with you three. I'm lucky that two of them are off somewhere right now." Matt growled, which only made me roll my eyes again. Edric stood up, moving over towards the opposite side of our table. 

"Dude, if you don't want to deal with us, just leave. Nobody said you had to stay to hang out." I told him as I picked up my cards, watching as he softly shook his head. "I swear, you act like we hold you hostage here..." I said, this time under my breath. However, both the twins heard me and busted up laughing.

"Yeah Matty, if you don't want to be here, then don't be." Edric managed to say, wiping his eyes. "It's not like Mittens has some special spell on the studio preventing you from leaving." Edric's scroll suddenly started buzzing, and summoning it, he glanced it over. "Oh, speak of the devil." Quickly answering the call, he put it up to his ear. "Heya Mittens!" 

Matt took that as his cue to leave, quickly walking down the hall back down to his room. I watched Edric, the cheery smile on his face quickly dropping as his eyes darted around. "Ready to play?" Emira asked with a grin, her eyes glinting with confidence. 

"Woah woah woah! Hold on, slow down!" Edric said, his voice dropping the happy tone it had earlier. Emira glanced up at her brother, but then looked back down to her cards before placing one down. 

I kept my eyes on Edric for a minute, watching his expression constantly change. "What's going on?" I thought to myself as a bad feeling slowly snared my chest. I kept one eye on him while I used the others to look down at my cards, placing one across from Emira's. 

"I-" He got cut off, then he shook his head. "What? Hold on, Mit-" He got cut off again. "I can't-" There was another short pause. "Amity you need to calm down!" That made Emira and I go ridged, the twins never called Amity by her name unless something was up. 

Emira turned around in her seat, not bothering to cover up her cards anymore. Her ears were down, staring at her twin while he tried to listen to what Amity was saying. "Ed, what's going on?" Emira asked with a slight waver in her voice, but Edric held his hand up, shushing her. 

His eyes continued to dart around, the ear that wasn't against his scroll was pinned down. "She's what? I can't-" Both of us stood up, moving over by Edric's sides. All I could hear on the other end of the call was frantic, incoherent babbling coming from Amity. 

I glanced over at Emira, noticing just how worried she had become. "Edric tell me what's going on." She said in a shaky voice, her eyes scanning over the look on his face. Edric ignored her, trying to listen to Amity. 

"Alright Amity look, take a deep breath." I could hear Amity fall silent, following her brother's instructions. "Okay, now tell me where you're at now." There was a soft response on the other end, making Edric's breathing hitch. "We'll be down as fast as possible. Just remember to breathe, okay?" 

He then hung up his scroll, his hands shaking slightly. "Will you tell me what in the Isles is going on?" Emira asked desperately, gripping onto her twin's arm with a death grip. 

"Mittens and Luz are in trouble." I sighed, impatiently tapping my foot on the ground. 

"No shit Edric! Who could tell?" He glanced at me for a moment, considering a remark before falling quiet. "What happened to them?" I felt surprised at the fact my voice wavered, but I didn't show it. 

"I have no idea, Amity was losing it and I could barely understand a word she was saying. What I got was that Luz landed herself at the hospital somehow." That made Matt poke around the corner, his eyes wide. 

"Wait wait wait, back up a minute." He walked around the corner, an amused tone laced in his voice. "You're telling me the human is in the hospital?" He didn't sound concerned, rather, his voice held this amused tone. My hands clenched into fists, I desperately wanted to slap the ever growing smirk off of his face. 

"And based off of Amity's reaction, it doesn't sound good..." Edric said, quickly making his way to the door. "C'mon, we've gotta see what's going on." He suddenly froze when Matt's laughter echoed throughout the room. 

"What's so funny?" My anger started to bubble up, but I tried to keep it down. Matt shook his head, his laughs getting a little louder. 

"You guys really have to be pranking me again!" He said, wiping a tear from his eye. "This is too good to be true! The human is actually hurt? Maybe this will be a wake up call that she doesn't belong here. Gods it'll be so nice once she's gone." He said the last line a little quieter than the rest. Both the twins went wide eyed, staring at Matt in disbelief. 

"You..." I bit back my words, feeling my ears go down in anger. Both of my hands shaking as I held them in tight fists. "Okay you know what? No. Not dealing with this right now." I drew a spell, floating Matt into the air. He yelped before shooting me a glare. 

I could see him reach up to cast a spell to make me put him down, but I stopped him by drawing a quick binding spell, making sure to tie his hands flat against his sides. "Put me down!" He yelled as I dragged him down the hall, squirming in hopes to break the spell. 

"Oh I'll put you down alright." I hissed, moving to the recording booth. With a rough kick that left my leg tingling, the door swung open and I tossed Matt inside, making sure to make him land face first. Before he could even move, I slammed the door and left him inside, making sure the door jammed real good. 

Then, for good measures, I cast a spell on the door to lock it. "Try getting out of that you short tempered bitch." I spat, hoping he heard me from behind the door. Then, turning on my heel, I went back out into the main room with the twins.

They both stared at me, noticing how steam was practically coming out of my ears. "What did you do?" Emira asked me, her ears still down, but I just shook my head. 

"Not important." I threw open the studio's front door and went outside, the two of them following behind me. "What is important is that he won't bug us now." 

"Did ya kill him?" Edric asked, his eyes widening. I looked over at the Blight, giving him a look. "Hey, it was just a question!" He said making me shake my head. Emira gave her brother a sharp nudge, promptly shutting him up. 

"No I didn't kill him." I sharply said as we picked up our pace, quickly heading in the direction of the hospital. "But once Amity hears about what he just said, she sure as fuck will." The twins shot each other wary glances, both of them thinking about Matt's fate. 

We made it to the hospital in record time, throwing open the doors to spot Amity in a near empty room. She was shaking, rubbing her wrist, barely able to stand as she tried to pace the room with heavy tears rolling down her cheeks. The front of her clothes were covering in drying blood, making that bad feeling in my chest spike. 

She saw us and froze, her face scrunching up in more pain as she dashed over to her siblings, throwing herself in Emira's arms as sobs wracked her body. Emira held her sister up, making sure she didn't collapse to the floor as she started running a hand up and down her back in an attempt to soothe her. "Amity, you need to breathe." She told her softly, slowly moving them over to a chair. 

"In for four, hold for seven, out for eight." Edric said, coaxing her to breath with him. I took a few steps back from the three of them, pulling out my scroll. 

Emira glanced up at me, raising an eyebrow. "I'm gonna make a call, fill people in on what's going on." She nodded, then returned her attention back down to her shaking sister. 

I put in Willow's contact and hit call, praying she'd pick up. It rang once, then twice, then she finally picked up. "Hey babe!" She said cheerily, a lump in my throat forming at her tone. 

"Willow..." I trailed off, my voice suddenly dying out. 

"Boscha? What's the matter?" Her cheery tone dropped, turning into more of a concerned one. I took a deep breath before swallowing.

"That's a great question." I gave a halfhearted chuckle. "But, Luz is in the hospital." Willow gasped on the other end.

"She's what? Why?" There was a bit of shuffling on her end.

"No clue." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "Amity's too frantic to fill us in on anything, we're lucky she managed to tell Edric where they were." I told her, glancing back at the siblings. 

It looked like they had managed to get Amity to calm down a little, but she was still shaking in her sister's arms, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "She's gonna be alright Amity, I promise." I could hear Edric say to her.

"Look, just, get Augustus and get the owl lady, fill them in on what's going on." I told her, turning away from the siblings again. "I'd do it myself, but I don't have a way to contact them." 

"I'll let them know as fast as possible." She told me, her voice wavering slightly. "I love you." 

"I love you too." There was a click, meaning she hung up. I took a deep breath, putting away my scroll and turning back around to the siblings. 

They all looked up at me and I could see just how shattered Amity was by looking in her eyes. "Alright, Willow's filled in and she's gonna be telling Augustus and the owl lady here soon. Now Am, what happened?" 

Amity sniffled, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to clear them of tears. "Luz and I split up and I went to the shop. Some guy started following me after I got my stuff, and I tried to shake him off, but since I'm stupid, I got myself cornered int the alleyway." Her voice was shaky, struggling to get through her story without bursting into more tears. 

"Sis, you aren't stupid." Emira said, lightly running her fingers through her hair. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Edric's fists tighten. 

"Well, he pinned me against the wall and used some kind of spell to keep me in place, saying stuff like how I was his idol and he was my biggest fan. Then he started to lean in, and, and that's when Luz showed up." Amity's breathing hitched for a moment, a stifled sob escaping her. Both the twins let out a low growl, a fire of anger sparking in their eyes.

"Take your time Am, there's no rush." I said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly at the contact, her glossy eyes meeting with mine. Then, she gave me a slow nod, taking in a deep, albeit shaky breath. 

"Not long after she showed up, the two of them started fighting. He threw some kind of potion or an acid that she managed to avoid, then Luz managed to land a few solid hits on him before he used a spell to throw her off, then he summoned some kind of weapon." 

"Weapon? What kind of weapon?" Edric asked, concern clear in his voice. 

"I don't know!" Her voice wavered as she brought her hands up to her head. "It was some kind of rectangle with a handle and a trigger! Whatever it was, Luz was able to recognize it..." 

"So it had to be something from the human realm." I muttered, making Amity nod. 

"He started pointing it at me and that made Luz panic so she tried to take it from him." She started and I could see her eyes fill with even more tears. "Then, he punched her, screaming how she has a death wish before... before there was this loud bang, and he was gonna do it again but I slammed him in the face with my guitar case." 

She nuzzled back into her sister, a few choked sobs escaping her body. My eyebrows furrowed together, my head trying to wrap around what happened. "Shh, Amity it's gonna be okay..." Emira said to her, but I could see the look in her eyes. 

The look that said she had no idea what was going to happen. 

"There was so much blood... her blood was all over my hands and, and I couldn't do anything to stop it." Amity choked out, her voice sounding the most vulnerable I've heard in awhile. 

Then there was a sudden loud bang as the doors flung open, and in stormed the owl lady, with her pet on her shoulders and her staff tightly gripped in her hand, my girlfriend and Augustus trailing not too far behind her. "Where's my kid?!" She growled, her voice wavering slightly. 

Both the twins turned to the owl lady, then back to each other, both sharing a look that knew she was going to kill the witch that did this. Willow made her way to my side, her fingers intertwining with mine as she gave my hand a tight squeeze. 

"Who hurt my buddy!?" The tiny demon asked, glaring at all of us. We shrugged, but Amity seemed to tense up. The owl lady's sharp eyes met hers, then she bent down to her level, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"Kid, what happened to Luz? Who did this? I'll make sure they're nothing more than a smear when I'm done with 'em" Amity's lip quivered, struggling to form words into a sentence. 

"You think you're gonna take him out on you're own? Yeah, no way, we're joining you." Edric hissed, popping his knuckles. The silver haired witch rolled her eyes, ignoring the twin's remark. 

"I... I don't..." Amity sniffled, trying to pull herself together enough to get out an answer. "I don't know who he is. All I know is he had silver blue hair, sharp teeth, snake eyes..." Emira's eyes widened, her eyes darting around as Amity described the guy. 

"Oh my gods..." She softly murmured, her face paling. "It's that same creep from the market..." Amity pulled back from her sister, staring at her in disbelief. The owl lady's eyes widened as she caught a clear view of Amity's bloodstained shirt, then she growled. 

"Alright, what did he do to Luz? Cause I'm gonna do the same thing except four times worse before really hurting him." Her voice was strong, but her eyes were glossy, giving away how she really felt. The demon jumped down from her shoulders and onto Amity's lap, trying to comfort her. 

The twins started recapping the events while Amity tried to distract herself with the demon. Augustus moved over towards us, his hands nervously fidgeting. I gave Willow's hand another squeeze, feeling her trembling slightly. 

When they got to the part where they were describing the weapon, the silver haired witch stopped them. "Rectangle weapon with a handle and trigger? I've seen one of those before." Her tone was serious, her eyebrows bunching together. "It's a human weapon alright, and a pretty illegal one to have here considering how dangerous they can be..." 

Her voice slowly trailed off as she looked towards Amity, who now wore a mortified expression on her face while she shook like a leaf. "So that means she's seriously injured..." Augustus suddenly said, his eyes widening. 

I gave him a somber nod, watching as the pet demon wrapped his small arms around Amity's neck, trying to give her some form of comfort. "Did she carry Luz all the way here?" Willow asked me, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"I assume so." I mumbled back, my eyes staring back down at the dried blood on her shirt. A few healers passed by us, catching the owl lady's attention. 

"Hey! You!" A healer froze in his tracks, turning towards all of us. His eyes first met with the owl lady's, then his eyes landed on Amity. "How's the human doing?" There was a bit of desperation laced in her voice. 

"Oh, the human Ms. Blight brought in." The healer glanced over his clipboard for a minute, then quickly shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't have a clue about her status. However, I can get you a healer that does." 

"Then get to it!" The silver haired witch snapped, making the healer jump. He gave her a quick nod, then headed off to find another healer. The second he left, the owl lady started to quickly pace, mumbling things about Luz under her breath. 

A couple of minutes later, another healer dropped by, this one Amity seemed to recognize. "You had questions about the human?" They asked, instantly stopping the owl lady's pacing. Amity shot up out of her seat, wiping her eyes as she held the demon in her arms. 

"How is she?" Amity asked, her voice still soft. The healer glanced over their clipboard, making a few clicks with their tongue. 

"As of now, the human is in a stable condition." That made all of us collectively sigh in relief. "We managed to remove the metal from her system and stitch her up, and after quite a few rejections, we managed to find a blood type that her body hasn't rejected yet, so we're keeping a close eye on her now."

"Oh thank gods." The owl lady sighed, a ghost of a smile etched on her lips. The healer flipped through a few of their notes, not looking up at any of us. 

"However..." They started, and even from where I was standing I could hear Amity's breath hitch. "We haven't tried to use any kind of healing spell on the human because we don't know how it would affect her system. And due to her state right now, we aren't going to be trying it anytime soon." 

"Is she awake?" Edric asked, the healer responded by shaking their head. 

"We aren't exactly sure when she will wake up. What we do know is that it should be some time soon, maybe a few days to a week at most." They said, eyeing all of us up and down for a minute. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?" 

"I want to go see her." The owl lady told them, but they shook their head. 

"I'm afraid that isn't possible-" The silver haired witch shot the healer a glare that would strike anyone dead, making them pause. They hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke in a soft voice. "Right this way." 

The pet demon jumped out of Amity's arms and followed after the owl lady and the healer, trotting on all fours to keep up with them. "You can go see her if you want Amity." Edric told her, I watched her reach out for a moment before quickly bringing her hand to her chest. 

She looked conflicted, her puffy eyes staring at the hallway the healer disappeared down. "I... I can't. I just... I wanna go home and change. I need to burn these." A few more tears slipped down her cheeks, her hands hovering close to her chest, away from the blood. 

"That's one of your favorite shirts though." Emira muttered, making Amity whirl around to face her sister. 

"It doesn't matter. I'm burning it." She hissed in a shaky voice. Then, there came the familiar click of the owl lady's heels come from down the hall, appearing just as quickly as she left. With one eye, I glanced back at her, noticing her trying to subtly wipe away tears from her eyes. The tiny demon was nowhere in sight, but I could hear his sniffles

She walked by us, pausing to glance at Augustus and Willow. "C'mon you two, I've gotta get you home." Her voice sounded so hurt and defeated, something so different from her usual tone. Before she walked away completely, I could hear her mumble under her breath. "I'm gonna make sure that bastard never sees the light of day again. No one hurts my kid and gets away with it." 

Willow gave me a quick kiss then followed after the witch with Augustus. "I'll call you later." She told me and I nodded, my eyes following the three of them before the owl lady paused. 

"Oh, and kids?" We all looked over at her, all of us noticing the tears welling in her eyes. "If you hear anything about a missing witch matching his description, you don't have a clue what happened to him." A single tear rolled down her cheek, then she turned around and left with Willow and Augustus in tow. 

The rest of the band stood frozen in place, none of us saying a word. Finally, Edric spoke up. "Did you leave your guitar at the shop?" He turned slightly towards our singer, who softly nodded her head with a sniffle. 

"It's in the alleyway..." She mumbled, rubbing her red eyes. Edric nodded, then looked up towards his twin. 

"Take Mittens home, I'll go get her guitar." Emira nodded, gently placing a hand on her sister's shoulder before leading her towards the door. 

"I'll go with you. Besides, I've gotta let Matt out of the recording booth." That made Amity freeze in place, turning around and raising an eyebrow at me. 

"Why is he in there?" Both her siblings and I tensed up, glancing at one another for a moment. 

"He's... I'll fill you in later. Now wouldn't be a good time." I told her, and she brought a hand to her wrist, giving it a rub. 

We all walked out the doors, not saying a word. Edric and I went in the opposite direction of Emira and Amity. Our walk was silent, Edric didn't even try to crack a joke to help ease the tension. 

I kept my arms folded across my chest while we walked and out of the corner of my eye I could see Edric fiddling with his hands. The two of us eventually made it to the market, then we made it to the band shop. 

My eyes caught the alleyway and I slowed down my pace before coming to a full stop. Edric paused along with me, his gaze slowly turning to a glare before he let out a low growl. "If I ever find that guy, I will make sure he hurts." He mumbled, slowly walking towards the alleyway. 

Following after him, we found Amity's guitar case sitting by a pool of blood with no one in sight. The metallic smell of blood still hung lightly in the air, stinging my nose with its scent. 

The two of us carefully stepped over the red liquid, Edric snagged her guitar case off of the ground, carefully lifting it up and down for a moment. "Feels like her guitar's still in here." He said, glancing at one of the case's corners. The Blight sucked in a breath, squinting slightly at the sight. "I've gotta clean this when we get to the studio." 

I stared at the rest of the alleyway for a moment, noticing the shattered bits of glass that gleamed in the pale light and the bit of the floor that was eaten away. It just left me with an uneasy feeling. "Let's get going." I muttered, stepping over the blood and heading in the direction of the studio, Edric following not too far behind me. 

"Think Matt tore the place apart yet?" Edric asked, trying to spark up some kind of conversation so we weren't in silence. I shook my head, cracking half a smile as I remembered what I did. 

"Unless he can break out of a binding spell, then no." The Blight twin let out a laugh, but it sounded kind of forced. We both walked to the studio, trying to start a conversation every once and awhile before it fell silent again. 

When we made it to the studio, I opened the door for Edric, who gave me a small nod as a thank you. I walked in after him, closing the front door behind me. Edric moved to the main room, setting Amity's guitar case down before drawing a spell to clean it. 

I made my way to the recording booth, disabling the lock spell I put on the door before giving it a rough kick to open it. The door swung open before stopping about halfway. A loud, drawn out hiss of pain came from Matt as I walked into the room. 

Without saying a word, I drew a spell to cut him out of his bindings. He glared at me, slowly standing up and dusting himself off, rubbing his shoulder where he got hit. I could see both of his hands quickly clench in tight fists. "If you're thinking about hitting me, don't even try it." 

"You're a bitch." He said, his voice dripping with enough venom to kill someone. I shrugged, giving him a glare. 

"Y'know, you're lucky I didn't say a word to Amity about what you said." His ears drooped slightly, but then they quickly went back up. "You and I both know that she would've ripped you apart by now." 

The sound director scoffed, turning on his heel and leaving the room. I followed him out into the main room, where Edric was sticking Amity's guitar case into the sound room. 

Matt's eyes followed him for a minute, then he folded his arms over his chest. "Where's your sisters?" He asked when Edric popped out of the room, making him freeze for a minute. 

"Home. Mittens wanted to go home." He said, his tone holding a bit of edge. Matt chuckled, shaking his head slightly. 

"So she sent you to do her work?" Matt started to laugh again, but I gave him a powerful, sharp jab to the side, making him collapse on the floor with a gasp. Turning to Edric, I acted like I didn't do anything, 

"If you're done, you can head out. I'll make sure he leaves." Edric gave me a quick nod, getting ready to leave. "And hey, let me know how Am is every once and awhile, alright?" 

"Will do." He muttered, turning forward before turning back toward me. "I'll make sure to also fill you in on the gig, since now, we probably aren't doing it any time soon." 

The gig completely left my mind, but he was right. Now that Luz was out of commission, it'd be a bad idea to do the show. I mean sure, we have Edric, who could easily take her place, but it still wouldn't work. Amity's distraught, she's not going to be able to do a show.

Edric gave me a small wave goodbye, then he left. I glanced down to the floor where Matt was still writhing in pain. Resisting the urge to kick him in the gut, I lightly tapped the bottom of his shoe with my foot. 

"C'mon get up." I hissed, giving him another tap. "After all of this, I want to go home." I muttered as he slowly got up. 

"Yeah, I wanted to go home about two hours ago too!" He gasped out, still clutching his side. Rolling my eyes, I gave him a shove. 

"Well maybe, you should've kept your mouth shut." He glared at me, but didn't say anything else. Instead, he flipped me off and started to walk away. "Wow Matt, so original." I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes, making him mutter something under his breath. 

I followed him out the door, making sure to lock the studio's front door. Matt walked off in his own direction, luckily the complete opposite direction of where I was going.

Slowly starting to walk home, I was finally able to try and wrap my head around what happened. Most of the details that Amity told us were just a blur in my mind.

Pulling out my scroll, I hesitated before pulling up Amity's contact. "Hey Am, you don't need to respond, but I want you to know. If you want someone to talk to, I'm always here. Message or call whenever okay?" I sent with a sigh, making my scroll disappear again. 

The rest of my walk home was silent, my thoughts stuck worrying about our drummer.


	17. Next gig

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes this chapter

Amity POV: 

I sat in my dark room, alone. 

My eyes hurt from rubbing them so much, I knew without a doubt that they were still puffy and red. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the outline of my clothes I had haphazardly thrown onto the floor, Emira refusing to let me burn them the moment I changed out of them. 

I'd just burn them later tonight. 

With a sniffle, I slowly stood up, facing the bloody clothes. I didn't want to touch them, I couldn't even bring myself to get close to them. With a shaky sigh, I summoned a small abomination, one that was maybe up to my shoulders. 

"Abomination move." I managed to tell it, motioning towards the clothes. It let out a low groan, then slowly shambled over to the pile. Scooping up the clothes in its arms, it moved them over by my doorway, putting them in a spot where they'd be covered if the door opened. "Abomination cower." 

The abomination disappeared, only leaving the bloody and now gooey clothes in its wake. I turned away from my door and sat back down on my bed, facing my headboard. I sucked in a shaky breath, feeling the tears stinging my eyes as the events replayed in my head. 

Luz showing up.

The two of them fighting.

Luz trying to take the weapon from the creep. 

The bang. 

Me carrying her to the healers.

Her passing out in my arms. 

Everyone's reaction. 

I squeezed my eyes shut and my ears went down, trying to stop the thoughts from crashing down on me. All of this had to be some kind of nightmare, and in a minute I'd wake up the day after the show and none of this would've ever happened. "I'll wake up and it'll all go away. I'll go to the market to meet up with Luz and I won't go to the band shop. We can just go hang out... just like we were going to." 

Biting my lip, I focused on a scuff on my headboard, trying to distract myself. It was quiet, which left me alone with my thoughts. Glancing up at my window, I noticed the bit of sunlight that peeked through the curtains. 

It was sunset, the orange rays split up against my floor. I've always found the sunset to be soothing, and that's something I needed right now. Slowly getting back up, I made my way over to my window sill. 

I didn't bother to pull my curtains back, rather, I just moved them aside and sat in the window sill, letting them cover me from the rest of my dark room. I had to squint for a moment, my eyes struggling to adjust to the light. 

Resting my back against the wall, I watched the sun slowly inch down in the sky, the sky slowly turning a darker shade of orange. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I tightly wrapped my arms around my legs and rested my head on my knees, my eyes halfway open. My hand wrapped around my purple tinted wrist, giving the tender skin a soft rub.

"Can I wake up now?" I asked softly, more tears stinging my eyes. A few tears slipped, hitting my knees, leaving dark dots on the fabric. Then, there was a soft set of knocks at my door. 

Whoever was on the other side of the door paused, waiting for me to give them an answer. However, I stayed quiet, just staring out my window with blurry vision. They knocked again, this time a little louder than the last time. 

There was another pause, then I heard my door slowly creak open. "Hey sis?" Edric softly called. I assumed he stayed by the door because I couldn't hear his footsteps. 

"Hey Ed." I greeted back in a weak voice, not looking away from the window. 

"Why don't you come down, get something for dinner?" I could hear my floorboards creak under his weight as he shifted from foot to foot. 

"I'm not hungry." I mumbled, pulling my knees tighter across my chest. 

"Mittens you need to have something, at least something small. A granola bar or something like that." He pushed, making me sigh. With a sniffle, I turned my gaze towards the curtain, looking in Edric's direction without actually looking at him. 

We both went quiet for a minute, then I sighed. "Fine." I muttered, pushing the curtain aside and stepping back into my room. I saw Edric standing in the doorway, glancing at me with a look of empathy. 

Rubbing my eyes again, I walked past him and slowly made my way downstairs, his footsteps trailing behind me. Walking down into the kitchen, I noticed Emira wasn't around, but I didn't say anything. 

I went into the pantry, grabbing me a granola bar before moving to the table and taking a seat. Edric leaned on the counter, his arms folded as he stared out the kitchen window. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him fiddling with the sleeve of his t-shirt, trying to find something to do. 

Turning my gaze down, I stared at the granola bar in my hand. I didn't want it, but I knew I needed to have something. Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I tore open the wrapper and took a small bite. Glancing back at my brother, I watched his eyes quickly dart back to the window, acting like he wasn't looking in my direction. 

"Where's Em?" I asked, swallowing the bit of food in my mouth. Edric used his head to motion towards the window, his eyes following something outside. 

"She's outside making a call." He stated, his eyebrows furrowing together slightly. 

"A call?" My mind instantly jumped to Viney, but normally Emira would just go to her room whenever she called. "To who?" 

"The stadium owner. She's cancelling our next gig." My brother fell quiet, his eyes still following what I assumed to be Emira outside. I slowly nodded, taking another small bite of the bar. We both said nothing for a minute or two, then Edric started to talk again. "Hey Amity, what's going through your head right now?" 

I hesitated for a minute, which made him quickly add "I'm not gonna make fun of you for it y'know. I just... wanna see if I can help ease whatever's going on in your thoughts right now." I rubbed the fabric on my thigh, trying to think of how to put my thoughts into words. 

"Just worrying about Luz." I finally mumbled in a shaky voice, figuring that was the best way to phrase the disaster that my thoughts were right now. He nodded his head, turning his gaze away from the window so that he could look at me. 

"That's what I thought you were gonna say." Edric pushed himself off the counter and moved over to the table, dragging out a chair to take a seat. Then, he placed a hand on my shoulder, making me tense up. "Mittens look at me." He said in a soft tone, making me raise my eyes to look at him. "You and I know that Luz will be able to bounce back from this. Sure, it'll take a bit of time, but she'll be back, I promise." 

My vision blurred and my lip started to quiver. "But, what if-" He held a hand up, cutting me off. 

"No buts. Luz is gonna be okay. You brought her to some of the best healers on the Boiling Isles, and it's Luz we're talking about here. Something like this isn't gonna be able to bring her down." He gave me half a smile, wiping away a tear that slipped down my cheek before ruffling my hair. 

We both tensed up when we heard a door open followed by Emira's voice. I couldn't understand a word she was saying, but based on her tone, it didn't sound any good. She trudged to the kitchen, a few curses slipping from under her breath.

"What?" I asked her, trying to keep my voice steady as I struggled to fix my now messy hair. Emira's eyes snapped up to meet mine, then Edric's.

"Oh, you're finally downstairs." She mumbled, still staring at Edric. Then, she ran her hands down her face, slightly pulling at the skin. "So, we may have a bit of a problem." Emira dragged out, putting on a fake smile. 

"A problem how?" I asked, Edric's hand letting go of my shoulder. Emira sighed, moving over to the table with us, dragging out her chair with a few loud creaks coming from the floorboards. She took a seat, then resting both her hand under her chin in tight fists, her index fingers resting over her lips. 

"They're not letting us cancel the show." She finally said. 

"What?!" Edric and I said in unison, my brother's hand falling onto the table with a thud. Emira sarcastically chuckled, shaking her head. 

"That was my exact reaction." She said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "They said the best they can do is let us postpone the show a few days, but that's about it." 

"But, but Luz is in the hospital!" I said, feeling the anger bubbling up in my veins. My sister nodded her head, leaning back in her seat. 

"I told them that. I explained to the guy that Luz was in no shape to play, and we went back and forth for awhile." She let out a frustrated sigh, laying her head down on the table. "And after a half hour of arguing, he finally told me that the best he can do is postpone the show for two days." 

"So he just expects us to play without a drummer?" Edric huffed, furrowing his eyebrows together. Emira lifted her head up, resting her chin on her wrists so that it wasn't directly on the table. 

"No, he knows that you're still part of the band." She motioned towards Edric, who's eyes widened slightly. "He told me about halfway through the argument that we could just get you to play in her place for the show and that way there'd be no need to cancel." 

"So that means, we're forced to play this show?" I mumbled, making Emira nod. Leaning back until I hit the back of my chair, I let my arms hang limply at my sides. "I can't believe it..." Tears started to cloud my vision for the thousandth time today, but I refused to let them fall. 

We all sat in shocked silence for a moment, completely lost on what to say. The show still had to go on? Even if our drummer just got what could have been a fatal injury? It all felt unreal, just like how the rest of the day felt since that guy showed up. 

"You can't be serious." Edric finally broke the silence, making me glance over at him. He sat there with a blank look on his face, not looking at either of us. Then, he turned to his twin, his eyebrows furrowing together. "How did you not lose your shit when he said that?" 

"Oh believe me." Emira started, sitting up. "I was this close to losing it and start yelling at him." She pressed her fingers together, making them almost touch. She let out an exasperated sigh, her ears twitching slightly. "Honestly I'm glad I took the call, cause if I let any of you guys do it, we would've been screwed." 

"We're still screwed! We're still doing the show!" I hissed, my anger continuing to bubble. I wasn't angry with her, rather I was angry with whoever she talked to. Clearly he didn't care that we were down a member.

"So what? Does he just expect us to push down all the emotions that have bubbled up and perform the show like nothing's wrong?" Edric's voice was slowly rising in pitch.

My sister shrugged. "Apparently so." I stood up, making both of my siblings look up at me. I gripped the edges of the table till my knuckles turned white, my vision blurring with a mix of tears and anger. "Mittens?" 

"They want us to do the show? Fine." I growled, shoving back on the table as hard as I could, making my siblings flinch in surprise. "They want us to screw up on stage because of our emotions? So be it. They want me to blow up in their face the moment we get there? Okay then." 

"Mittens wait-" Emira started, getting up out of her seat. 

"No Em! I'm not gonna wait!" I snapped, then quickly backed down. "You and I both know the only reason why they aren't canceling the show is because they want money. And you know what? Fine. I'll just find some great ways to screw up their studio while we're there." Spinning on my heel, I started to make my way to my room. "Besides, it'd be a good distraction anyways..." 

I made my way up the stairs, not looking in my sibling's direction. I could hear their chairs squeal as they dragged across the ground, meaning they were getting up. Before they could say anything else, I darted up the last bit of the stairs and went to my room, slamming the door. 

Saying that I was angry was an understatement, but there was nothing I could do about it. We couldn't just not show up to the show, cause that would leave us in a lot of trouble. But at the same time, I doubt any of us could handle putting on a show after what had happened, especially me. 

"I hope they know the hole they just dug themselves into." I sniffled, shaking my head. Grabbing one of my notebooks, I flipped it open to a new page and grabbed myself a pencil, scribbling down ideas. "For once, my siblings pranks will do some good." 

I don't know how long I sat there writing down my plans, but they were interrupted when I heard a loud thunk come from Emira's room, making me jump and drop my notebook. Grumbling to myself, I bent down and picked up the book, trying to smooth out the bent pages. 

While smoothing out the pages, I glanced over the new page that was open. I stopped trying to fix the pages when I realized it was an old, unfinished song. "Is this...?" I trailed off, reading the lines. "The old warm up song."

Then, an idea struck me. 

Immediately, I forgot about the page I was originally on and started scribbling down lyrics and softly humming its tune that had been etched into my memory. "Wow... I, really forgot how depressing this song was..." I murmured out loud, taking a glance at the lines. It replaced my anger with more of a sad feeling, adding onto my emotions from earlier. 

But, it made sense why it was so depressing. It was a song I made when Luz left the first time, but I made sure to leave it vague in case we ever used it. But since I never finished the lyrics, we just used the sheet music as a warm up before we swapped it out with Hex girls. 

And now, not only did it have two different meanings when it came to Luz, but now it was going to see the light of the stage. 

I continued to work in silence, sometimes muttering a few lines to myself or growling when a line wouldn't work out. Maybe an hour or so after I stormed out of the kitchen, I heard a knock at my door. 

The sound made me jump because it pierced the silence, but I quickly blinked and turned towards the door. I could see my clothes still on the floor, but I tried to keep them out of my line of sight.

"Come in!" I called, watching the door slowly push open. There, stood Edric, once again leaning on my doorway. He looked around before saying anything, letting out a low whistle. "What do you need Ed?" I asked in a disinterested tone, looking back down to my work. 

"Oh, just came to see if you were asleep." He said, coming into my room and taking a seat next to me. "What'cha working on there?" He leaned over, his eyes scanning over the lyrics. 

"An unfinished piece." I muttered, shoving him away. His eyebrows furrowed together, then he snatched the book from my hands, leaning away just far enough so that he could read it. 

"Wait, is this the old warm up song? What was it called? Uh... Loverman right?" He asked with half a smile as I pulled the book away from him. Giving him a nod, he let out a little chuckle. "Why are you trying to finish this one now?" 

"Two reasons." I said, sticking my pencil in the middle of the notebook before closing it. "One, I'm gonna finish it up so that we can perform it at the show, and two, I needed something to distract myself with." My voice slowly got quieter, my brother gave me a somber nod. 

"Well if you ask me, that song's probably not gonna help distract you. In fact, it's probably done the opposite." His voice was almost as soft as mine. Then he chuckled, his hands clasping together. "Also, when did that song ever have lyrics? I remember us using that song as just an instrumental warm up." 

"It's had lyrics since we've started using it." I told him, placing my hands over the notebook in my lap. "I just, never finished them, so we never used them." He let out a little oh, softly nodding his head. We both went quiet for a minute, then he spoke up again. 

"Are you writing that because of Luz?"

"What?" I looked over at him, a little surprised by his question. With a chuckle, he gave me a light shove on the shoulder. 

"C'mon you heard me. This song hasn't been brought up since it was replaced, and I want to know if now you're writing it because of Luz." 

"No." I quickly lied, turning my gaze away from his. He let out a hum, but I couldn't tell if he believed me or not. "Hey Edric? How would you and Em feel about rigging the stadium with some pranks?" I asked, quickly trying to change the subject. 

"Is this to piss off the guy that Em was talking to?" I nodded my head. "What did you have in mind?" His signature smirk found its way to his lips as I cracked open my notebook and started going through my plans, which managed to earn me a few laughs. 

There was another loud thunk from Emira's room, making both of us pause our conversation. "What is that noise? It's happened twice now." I muttered, looking towards the door. 

"Probably her window or something. She's probably just letting it drop rather than slowly closing it." He shrugged, then gave me a little punch to the shoulder. "But about your plans, we'll do them, and we'll make 'em good." Edric then stood up, ruffling my hair a little, much to my annoyance. 

"You heading off to bed already?" I asked, which he responded with a nod. He lingered in my doorway for a moment, then turned around. 

"Hey remember, if you need anything at all, you know where mine and Em's rooms are. Also, Em's pulling a late night, just to let you know." I nodded my head, then remember what was behind the door. 

"And Ed, if you see a fire in the backyard, don't worry about it." He furrowed his eyebrows together, then raised one before shaking his head. 

"Whatever you say Mittens. Try to get some sleep, okay?" He then turned on his heel and gave me a little wave. "Night sis!" Edric called over his shoulder. 

"Night Ed." I called back, turning my gaze back down to my notebook. I flipped a few pages, landing back on the lyrics. The lyrics were almost finished, but the lines I had just added were a first draft, I'd still have to read through them to see if they were any good. 

With a low sigh I closed my notebook and gently set it on the floor. Moonlight poked through my curtains, casting part of my room in a dim light. "Now what?" I asked myself, glancing around the room before my eyes landed on the pile by my door. 

I could feel my chest tighten, the painful memories of today resurfacing. Taking in a shaky breath, I slowly walked over to the pile, my feet dragging against the wooden floor. I stood in front of the pile for a moment, just staring at it. 

Then, very shakily, despite the fact I didn't want to touch it, I bent down and carefully picked up the clothes. I tried to avoid touching the dried blood parts, a shiver traveling up my spine. Pulling my door open without it creaking, I started to sneak down the hallway. 

Sneaking through the hallway wasn't easy, the wooden boards would constantly creak and make me worry that I was gonna be caught. But once I made it to the stairs, I darted down them as quietly as I could, then went to the backyard. 

It was a lot darker outside, the only amount of light I could get was from the moon. I moved to the middle of the backyard, then threw the clothes down on the floor as if they burned me. "Okay, first things first." I said, surprising myself with how shaky my voice was. 

I drew a quick spell, protecting the rest of the grass from the flames that were about to engulf the clothes. Once the spell was complete, it left a small glowing circle around the pile, I started to slowly draw another spell. 

Tears once again pricked my eyes when the first purple flame sprouted up on the pile, which quickly became a small fire. I watched as the flames slowly got higher and higher, licking the sides of the protection spell and flicking into the air before disappearing entirely. 

The crackle of the flames weren't soothing, to me, it felt more like a reminder. A reminder that Luz was hurt. I don't know why that reminded me of that, but it did. And that was only making the tears continue to rise. 

Waiting until the flames died out, I watched with blurry vision as my clothes quickly turned into ash, and once it was done, I made sure to cast the ashes away. With a few sniffles, I looked up at the sky, just staring at the moon. 

"I need to see her." I said out of the blue, rubbing my eyes and making my way around the house before I could reconsider the thoughts. "I just want to see how she's doing." I told myself, walking along the dirt road. 

Most of my walk was silent, the only noise I could hear was the occasional sound of rustling leaves come from the trees or the bushes. I made sure to walk slow, each step slowly filling me with more and more dread. I considered turning back, not wanting to see Luz like that. 

But, once the hospital came into view, I knew there was no turning around. 

Moving towards the back of the hospital, I noticed that most of the lights were off, meaning there was no way the healers were going to let me in for a visit. "Shoot." I muttered, noticing the faint pink glow of a protection spell glowing around the building. "So there's no way to just teleport myself in... I really didn't think this through." 

While I searched the back of the building for a way in, I didn't notice the footsteps that were slowly getting closer to me. "Hey!" A familiar voice loudly called out, nearly making me jump out of my skin. 

I whirled around, already preparing a spell before I paused. The person stood in front of me wearing a lot of dark clothing, a hood pulled over their head to cover their face. 

Then, in a swift motion, they pulled their hood down to reveal it was only Viney.

"Oh! Hey Amity!" She greeted, her voice taking on that chipper tone she always had. I placed a hand over my racing heart, trying to catch my breath. 

"Hi Viney." I finally managed to say, putting on a small smile. "Geez, you scared me." 

"You scared me too, I thought you were some weirdo trying to break into the hospital to hurt someone or something." She chuckled, her hands fiddling with her hoodie. I chuckled back, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Well..." My voice trailed off, making her glance at the building before back at me. 

"Wait, are you trying to get in?" The beastkeeper asked me, making me nod. "Let me guess, you wanna see someone but you can't since it's past visiting hours." 

"I-" I paused, my eyebrows furrowing together slightly. "How did you know?" Viney shrugged, glancing around us. 

"Just a hunch." I could see her expression fall, dropping to a sadder one. "Also, I heard about what happened to Luz." She said softly, making me tense up. "Emira told me a few hours ago, I'm sorry about what happened." 

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "You don't need to be sorry, if anything I'm the one that should be. She got hurt because of me." Viney looked up at me, I could see her eyes holding a look of empathy. 

Rubbing both of my arms, we both fell silent for a moment, then I could hear her sigh. Looking over at her, I realized that she had started to cast a spell. "Alright look, honestly I really shouldn't be doing this, but..." She dragged out the last word before sucking in a breath through clenched teeth

She completed the spell and there was a loud thunk. I turned in the direction of the sound, watching as part of the building's wall slowly went in, then revealed a small tunnel. "A secret path?" I muttered, my eyes widening. Viney nodded her head. 

"Yep, once you walk in there, you're free of the protection spell and can teleport wherever you want. I wouldn't recommend walking too far into the tunnel though, cause it's super easy to get lost." She mumbled, letting out a nervous laugh. I assume she said that due to experience. 

"How did you find this?" I asked in an amused tone, making Viney smirk. 

"Well, I volunteered here last year, and being a troublemaker has its perks. Honestly you would not believe the amount of tunnels we found back at Hexside, it's insane. Just don't tell anyone about this." She shot me a quick wink, making me roll my eyes. "Now, you better get going, that tunnel can't stay open forever. I don't want something to sneak in and die in there, I'll get in major trouble." 

I gave the beastkeeper a nod, then turned to enter the tunnel before pausing. "Wait, Viney?" She tilted her head slightly, giving me a hum in response. "I'm curious, what are you doing out here so late?" I assumed that maybe it had something to do with griffins, but that flew out the window when I saw her reaction.

Even in the dark lighting I could see her cheeks light up, her body going stiff as a board as her ears went down. She brought a hand to the back of her neck, struggling to stammer out a response about Puddles, her eyes darting around frantically. 

The gears quickly started turning in my head, trying to figure out why she was acting so nervous. But then, it suddenly clicked why Emira was pulling a late night tonight. 

I couldn't hold back the laugh that rose in my throat, making the poor beastkeeper tense up again. Snorting a few times before wiping my eyes, I looked up at her. 

"What's so funny?" She finally managed to say, struggling to suppress her blush. I shook my head, turning around and slowly making my way to the tunnel. 

"Nothing, nothing." I chuckled as I ran my hand along the wall. "Oh, but I will tell you, third window on the right in the backyard." 

"Huh?" 

"I assume you're seeing my sister? And if you don't want Ed to make fun of you when you knock on the door, float up to her window or something. It's probably already open for you anyways." I smiled as the witch seemed to tense up even more, giving me a nod before pulling her hood back up over her head and darting off. 

Slowly going into the tunnel, I glanced around at the dusty rock walls that surrounded me. Exhaling, I drew a quick spell circle and closed my eyes. It took a moment, then I felt the ground change under my feet, smoothing out. 

Opening my eyes, I let my eyes adjust to the dim light from the hallway. "Alright, Eda came back quickly after seeing her, so she's gotta be around the corner or something." I thought to myself, slowly walking down the hallway. 

There wasn't too much noise, maybe the occasional creak from the building. "It's surprisingly quiet for a hospital..." I mumbled to myself, feeling uneasy. While we did have healing and numbing spells, that didn't mean people didn't make noise. 

I walked by a few of the rooms, cautiously peering into each of them to see if I could see Luz. Walking past two rooms that had no one inside, I finally went up to the third and found exactly what I was looking for. 

Before I opened the door, I noticed a clipboard on the front of the door. "Under no circumstances, do not use any healing spells on patient." It read. I carefully set the clipboard back against the door, then slowly pushed it open. 

The door opened without a sound, allowing me to slip into the room with ease. I could feel my throat tighten at the sight of Luz, who was lying on a cot with a large blood bag attached to her while it floated in the air. 

Even from here, I could see she was paler than usual. Trying to swallow the lump in my throat in an attempt to push down my emotions, I slowly walked over towards her. "Hey Luz." I greeted, knowing I wouldn't get an answer. 

I moved to her side, noticing the bags under her eyes. She had some weird hospital shirt on, and I knew from first glance that it was probably not very comfortable. 

Quietly, I pulled a chair over by her cot, slowly taking a seat. Then, I put my hand over her's, noticing she felt colder than usual. Before this, Luz was always warm, it was comforting.

Now she was cold, and it was unnerving. 

I watched her chest slowly rise and fall, which only made a tight feeling form in my chest. "I'm sorry..." I finally managed to croak out. Something wet splattered onto my legs, and bringing a hand up to my face, I realized I was crying.

Taking in a slow, deep breath, I tried to calm myself down. I ran my thumb against her knuckles. "I'm sorry I didn't see you earlier, I just..." My voice died out, making it impossible to finish my sentence. 

Luz probably couldn't hear me, but that didn't stop me from talking. I held a short, one sided conversation with her for a few minutes, bringing up the next gig and apologizing for the fact that we still had to do it. 

I stayed there with her for awhile, tears rolling down my face the entire time. I felt myself grow tired after awhile, but I still stayed by her side, refusing to leave her alone. But, when I heard something that sounded like footsteps, I realized it was time to go. 

Giving her hand one last squeeze, I put on a bittersweet smile. "I'll be back tomorrow alright? I promise." I hesitated for a minute, then slowly let go of her hand. 

"I love you..." 

Then, drawing myself another teleportation spell, I teleported out of the building, ending up in front of the tunnel. I made sure the tunnel closed so Viney wouldn't get in trouble for helping me, then slowly started to make my way home. 

Hot tears were still rolling down my cheeks, dripping down my neck and attaching themselves to my shirt collar. The air was cool, which would've made it a decent walk home if my face wasn't so hot. 

Slowly making my way to my house, I went up the dirt pathway until I made it to my backyard. I paused for a moment while I was back there, glancing at the spot where I had burned my shirt and jeans. 

My breathing hitched and I quickly turned my gaze away from the spot, darting inside the house as quietly as I could. All the lights were off, which just cast the room in darkness. 

Making my way up to my room, I first passed by Edric's room, who's door was cracked open. From inside I could hear his loud snores echoing off of his walls. 

Rolling my eyes, I then passed by Emira's room, who's lights were still on under her closed door. From the other side of he door, I could hear the faint sound of her and Viney's muffled voices. 

Emira said something I couldn't understand, which sent a flutter of nervous chuckles to erupt from the two of them. Their chuckles quickly stopped and they started doing something from the other side of the door. 

Shaking my head, I backed up from her door and went into my own room. I lit up the candle by my bed, making it the only source of light I had in my room apart from the moon. Kicking off my shoes, I stared at my bed, debating if I actually wanted to go to sleep. 

My eyes then caught my notebook, and with a sigh, I picked it up and flipped it open. I continued to write lyrics on the lined paper finding it barely distracting enough to keep most of my thoughts off of Luz. After all, if I just wore myself out until I passed out, I wouldn't have to try and fall asleep myself, because if I tried, I knew I wouldn't be able to. 

"Let's hope this song is okay..." I managed to say with a yawn, staring at the lyrics. The rest of my night was spent messily editing the lyrics before finally passing out in bed.


	18. Tired visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes

Amity POV: 

"Mittens!" I woke up with a jolt, my notebook that laid sprawled out on my lap nearly falling to the floor. Slamming my hands down on top of it so that it wouldn't, I winced when the pencil stabbed part of my leg. "Are you getting up?" 

"Give me a minute!" I called back in a husky voice, reaching out into a stretch. "Gods I'm tired..." I muttered to myself, wiping away the drool from the side of my face. Glancing at my window and the amount of light that poured into the room told me that it had to be some time around noon. 

"Well hurry up!" I heard Edric call, this time a little closer to my door. "I know you don't want to, but we've got practice today." Trying to rub the sleep from my eyes, I placed my notebook on my bed and moved over to my dresser, grabbing a random purple shirt and some shorts. 

Well, one glance at that outfit in the mirror made me change. 

After fixing my outfit, I grabbed my notebook and made my way downstairs. Both the twins were ready downstairs, with Emira was sitting at the table, wearing a long, dark grey turtleneck and bleached jeans while Edric was wearing a dark blue tank top and long shorts.

"Look who's finally up!" Emira chirped, resting her head on one hand while she drummed her fingers against the table with the other. I eyed her outfit up and down for a minute, but I didn't say anything. Moving to a wall to lean my back on, I folded my arms over my notebook. 

"Yeesh Mittens, your eyes are pretty red. Late night?" Edric asked, a smirk plastered on his face. I rolled my eyes, then gave them a bit of a rub, hoping to make some of the redness go away. His eyes slowly moved down to my notebook, then back up at me, giving me a questioning glance. 

Turning away from my brother, I faced my sister, eyeing her outfit up and down once again. "Okay, what's up with the outfit?" I asked, pointing towards her turtleneck. 

Emira shrugged, shifting her hand to rest on her cheek. "It's just comfortable." She said calmly, but her eyes held this nervous look. I could see her eyes dart down to her outfit for a second, then back up to me. Suddenly, she laughed. "Mittens why are you staring at me? Is there something on my sweater or something?" 

She pulled at the sweater, her laughter quickly dying out. It then hit me that she was probably wearing something that Viney brought her last night, or she was wearing it to cover something up. "There's nothing on your sweater Em." I muttered, deciding to drop the topic. 

"Yet." Edric shot her a malicious smile, raising his hand up and slowly drawing a spell. Emira snapped her head up when he said that, shooting him a glare. Her twin laughed, then wiped away the spell, shaking his head. He gave me a nudge, then started to walk towards the door. "Alright c'mon, let's go get this over with." 

I could feel the mood go sour, just by a little bit. Staring down at my notebook, I didn't move from my spot. Emira got out of her chair and placed a hand on my shoulder, making me tense up. I looked up at her, noticing the soft look in her eyes. 

Taking a deep breath, I started to walk towards Edric, who stood by the front door waiting for the two of us. The three of us walked out, Ed and Em instantly starting up a conversation between the two of them while I stayed quiet. A slight breeze picked up, lightly ruffling our hair as it passed.

Opening my notebook and holding down the pages while reading over the lyrics, I softly hummed the song's tune while I walked, tweaking a few words here and there. About halfway to the studio, I finally piped up. "Hey Ed?" I notice my brother perk up at my voice while I tapped my pencil against my chin. 

"Yeah?" 

"You remember how to play this song, right?" Edric laughed, giving Emira a look. 

"I remember that song like it's the back of my drum sticks!" He puffed out his chest and pounded a fist against his chest for a moment, then he froze and slouched down. "Wait... do drum sticks actually have a back side to them?" Emira licked her lips, struggling to hide her smile before she busted out laughing.

"Okay good." I muttered, completely ignoring his question about drum sticks as I wrote a small note in the margin. "That means we won't have to practice the instrumentals as much..." 

"I mean, we probably won't have to." He shrugged, sliding one of his tank top straps up further on his shoulder. "Unless our good old bassist forgot how to do the song, that is." I nodded, glancing up at our path ahead. By now, the studio was barely in view. 

My siblings picked up their conversation again, now arguing if drum sticks actually had a back to them or not. Clearly my sister wasn't taking the argument seriously based on the amount of chuckles that constantly slipped past her lips. 

The three of us made it to the studio and went inside, finding that when we got there, the front door still locked. "Boscha and Matt are late." Emira muttered, a hint of annoyance in her voice. 

"Yeah, so is Lu..." Edric paused, dragging out the last word without finishing the name as he shot me a glance, noticing that I had tensed up. Emira gave him a quick jab to the side, making him hiss in pain. I shook my head, saying nothing to the two of them as I made my way to my room. 

"Let me know when they get here." I finally said to them, my grip tightening on my notebook as I made my way around the corner.

"Great going you idiot." I heard Emira hiss to our brother, followed by a quick smack. I ignored the two, swallowing the lump in my throat as I dragged myself to our room. The walk was short, and when I made it to the door, I found a new addition to it. 

There, in bold, blue letters were the words "Dork den." scrawled out with magical graffiti. I stared at the writing for a bit, not knowing what I should do about it. Then, I let out a sigh and pushed the door to our room open, quickly slipping inside. 

It felt empty without Luz here with me. 

Putting my notebook down on the desk, I looked at myself in the mirror, avoiding the corner with our photo. The bags under my eyes were dark against my bloodshot eyes, a few pieces of hair stuck out of place thanks to the wind, making me look like a mess. 

Silently running a hand through my hair in an attempt to fix it, I finally gave up and pulled it out of its half ponytail, letting it down for a little bit. Then, I moved over towards the cot and took a seat, still staring at myself in the mirror for a moment before laying down. 

I stared at the ceiling, using one of my arms as a cushion while the other rested on my stomach. My fingers unconsciously traced my side as I picked out faces on the ceiling until I closed my eyes. 

My fingers continued to trace my side, moving to a specific spot, a spot I remember vividly from yesterday. "It should've been me." I thought to myself, tightly gripping onto my shirt. "Luz shouldn't have been the one to get hurt." 

Thinking back, I remembered what he said about the relic around his neck, how he said it was a lot easier to get than the weapon. I let out a bitter chuckle, opening my eyes once again. "I doubt that..." I said aloud. 

Relics were already hard enough to get if you were up in the ranks, let alone getting one the illegal way that can disable other's magic. So unless he was up somehow up in the ranks, he had to get it from another source. 

Then there was the weapon in general. Like Eda said, it was a human weapon, which meant he needed a way to access the human world. 

There had to be something else, maybe it was a coincidence that he got the weapon and just figured out how to use it on his own. Maybe, he's had one for years and just kept it on the down low, never using it until now. Or maybe he found one in a trash slug or something similar.

Or maybe, he got it from someone else.

There were a few rapid knocks at my door, then it opened and a head of pink hair popped her head in. "Am? You ready?" I didn't move for a minute, keeping my eyes up at the ceiling. 

My grip loosened on my shirt as I sat up, glancing at the witch. I could see her eyebrows furrow together slightly at the sight of me, but she was quick to cover it up. From outside my room, I could hear the studio door slam close, followed by a few grumbles from our sound director. 

"Wanna tell me why we're holding practice?" Matt hissed at one of my siblings, but they said nothing. 

"Yeah, why are we holding practice today? Gig's canceled ain't it?" Boscha asked me as I picked up my notebook and passed by her, taking a deep breath. She followed after me, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets. 

"I'll explain." I said softly, pulling my hair up into a ponytail. Going out into the main room, I saw Matt leaning against the wall, a scowl painted on his face, while my siblings stuck around by the table, both of them with their arms folded. 

"What? You wanted to hold a a fake practice cause you're lonely?" Matt huffed, making Ed and Em shoot a not so subtle glare in his direction. Em drew a quick spell, pulling Matt's shirt over his face while Ed drew another spell to tie the shirt in a knot, effectively leaving him stuck and blind. 

Swallowing down the harsh response I wanted to tell him, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "No, this is a legit practice." I mumbled. "Because... we're still doing the gig." 

"We're what now?" Boscha blinked a few times, her eyebrows furrowing together while Matt made a confused sound. "I'm sorry, I wanna make sure I heard you correctly. You're telling me, that our band, who just had our drummer nearly murdered, in front of you no less, is still performing the gig? Amity you can't be serious here." 

"We don't have a choice!" I snapped at her, making her flinch. "You think I want to do this gig? Boscha, Emira already tried to convince the owner to let us cancel, and he wouldn't let us. He said the best he can do is postpone the show for a few days." I repeated what Emira told me last night. 

Matt finally managed to pull his shirt off of his face, his cheeks tinted a light red and his hair sticking out in a few odd places. "So I've got to spend more time with you guys?" He growled, but we all ignored him. "Great, we get to waste more time with some useless practices." 

"The practices won't be useless." I muttered, then turned to our bassist. "You remember how to play the old warm up song, right?" Her eyes darted about for a moment, wracking her brain for an answer before her eyes widened. 

"I mean, I might be a little rusty since we haven't played it in awhile, but yeah, I remember how to play it." She folded her arms over her chest. 

"Great, we're more than halfway there." 

"Why do you ask?" Boscha's eyes squinted at me, her gaze slowly shifting to my siblings for a moment. 

"Because, this old warm up song is gonna be performed on stage." A bit of shock flashed across her face. "And before you ask, yes, the song has lyrics. That's what most of these practices are gonna be focused on." 

"Woah woah woah, this wasn't part of the original plan." Boscha said, placing her hands on my shoulders. "What song did we cut from the gig to give this one room?"

"None of them." I gave her a smile, making her pause in confusion. 

"But, that'd make us go past time." She muttered, making me nod my head. 

"And if you think that's the worst we're gonna do, you'd be wrong." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Matt fold his arms over his chest. 

"So what do you plan to do to make it worse, huh? Prank them? Cast a few hexes on the studio?" Matt asked, clearly not wanting to be a part of this. From behind me, I could hear the twins give an evil chuckle, probably doing some sort of pose. Boscha looked back at the two of them, the gears turning in her head for a moment before she finally got it. 

Slowly, a smirk found its way to her lips. "Let me guess, you're leaving your siblings to that job?" I nodded, making her chuckle. "I fear for those you have a vendetta against Blight, I really do." She then moved over towards the twins, her smirk still on her face. "Now, what did you two have planned for this spite show?"

"We'll fill you in on that later." Edric said, placing a hand on the pink haired witch's shoulder. "But for now, let's start practice. I'm sure we all want to get through it as fast as possible." 

"That's the one and only thing we can agree on." Matt mumbled, making his way towards the recording booth. There was a moment of silence, then the sound of Matt forcing the door open. Edric stood there for a minute, then jumped slightly when he realized he needed to go get his drums. 

I let out a sigh, slowly making my way to the sound room. Boscha followed after me while Emira followed after Matt. Opening the sound room door, I passed Boscha her bass before grabbing my guitar case. 

Boscha thanked me, then moved to the recording room, nearly running into my brother in the process. They both laughed it off, then struck up a conversation. I watched the two of them walk into the recording room, standing frozen in my place.

My eyes glanced down at my guitar case, the memory of slamming it in the creep's face flashing in my mind. I shook my head a few times, now making my way to the recording room to meet up with the rest of the band. 

Emira and Matt were waiting by the sound board while Edric and Boscha were setting up their instruments. I set down my guitar case and cracked it open, watching as my new guitar strings slipped out of the case and fell to the ground. 

Bending down, I picked up the strings and flipped over the little packet, staring it over for a minute before glancing down at my guitar. "I'll change the strings after practice." I muttered to myself, my fingers trailing up and down the neck of my guitar. 

"Mittens! You out of your own little world yet?" My brother slapped my back, making me jump. "You've been standing there for five minutes muttering to yourself." I gave him a nod, setting the strings down on my case, picking up my guitar. 

"Let's get started." I said, shrugging him off. Cracking open my notebook, I moved over towards Boscha, drawing a quick spell to make my notebook float between the two of us. Edric took a seat behind his drums, twirling his sticks between his fingers. 

"Wanna make a game out of this Boscha?" He asked, making her turn around as she slung her bass over her shoulder. "How many times do we you think we have to go through this song till you've got it memorized?" 

"I say... at least three times." She smirked, placing one hand on her hip. "What do you think?" 

Edric laughed, slowly shaking his head. "That's a low number. I say six times." He then held out his hand, shooting her his signature smirk. "Ten snails to whoever's closest." Boscha rolled her eyes, then chuckled as she shook my brother's hand. 

Softly shaking my head, I gave Boscha a nudge before motioning to my notebook. "Alright you two, come on." They both gave me a nod, then I glanced up to Emira and Matt, giving them a nod as well. 

We started with practice, all of us easily able to play the instrumental part of the song, each of us knowing the song by heart. The lyrics however, were a bit of a challenge. While it took some time to get down the cues, we eventually were able to memorize each of them.

An hour later, I decided it was finally time for us to take a break. "Finally!" Edric exclaimed, slouching over his drums with a tired sigh. Matt poked his head into the room, rolling his eyes at Edric. 

"You guys want a drink or what?" He asked in a snarky tone, leaning against the doorway. 

"My usual." I muttered, noting the waver my voice held. Matt said nothing, turning to Boscha and raising an eyebrow.

"Same here." Boscha said, leaning against the wall as she glanced down at her bass. 

Edric sat up, stretching his arms over his head before popping his fingers. "Cold water. Unlike those two, I want something to cool me down." 

"Well sorry I want to help my voice." Boscha mumbled as Matt left the room, shooting a glare in Edric's direction. He laughed, rolling his eyes. "And, I think I won our bet. Pay up Eddy boy." My brother shook his head, another low chuckle rising from his throat. 

"No way, it took you five times to get it down. I won." He held his hand out, waiting for her to pay. 

"What? No way, last time didn't count. I had it all down, I just fumbled a couple words!" Boscha argued. I watched the two of them go back and forth, struggling to stifle a yawn. Letting my guitar hang from my shoulders, I tried to rub the tiredness from my eyes.

A few minutes later, Matt popped back into the room, carrying three drinks in his arms. I went over to him and took one, giving him a nod as a thank you. Boscha and Edric realized he was in the room, pausing their argument to grab their drinks from the sound director. 

I took a sip of my drink, watching as the two of them instantly picked their argument back up, bickering in between sips of water. Finally, Boscha threw her hands in the air, nearly spilling her drink in the process. "Gods fine!" She started to dig in her pocket, then passed my brother the money. 

"Thank you~" He pocketed the snails, shooting Boscha a wink. She let out a frustrated chuckle, mouthing a few things that I didn't catch before taking another drink of her water.

A couple minutes passed and the two of them suddenly started a new conversation. I set my drink down on the ground, then leaned against the wall and folded my arms over my chest. My eyes drooped, my head nodding forward before I jerked it back up. 

I repeated the process a few times before finally closing my eyes. "Am?" I jolted, blinking a few times before turning to our bassist. "You good over there?" 

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." I mumbled, feeling my ears twitch as I rubbed my eyes. "Just a little tired is all." 

"We can take a longer break if you need to Mittens." Edric said, but I only shook my head. 

"We don't have time for a longer break. We've got five days to get this song down." I muttered, picking my drink back up and taking a sip. "I don't need one anyways." That statement made Boscha roll her eyes, but she didn't say a word.

"Are you sure?" He asked, twirling a drum stick in his hand. "After all, we can just pick this up tomorrow." 

"I'm sure." I said, stifling a yawn. "We've only got an hour or so left anyways. So come on, let's practice the rest of the songs, then we can move back to this one." Boscha and Edric looked at each other, then back at me, both of them giving me a nod. 

Turning so that Matt could see me, I gave him a signal which he nodded and fiddled with a few of the knobs on the sound board. 

The three of us went through the rest of the songs, playing each of them to perfection. By the time we were done, it was a little past four. Edric ran a hand over his brow while Boscha started to leave the room. "Great job guys." I muttered, following after Boscha. 

I put my guitar back in its case, setting the new strings on top of it. I thought about it for a moment, considering restringing it now, but I shook my head and closed the case. Right now, I just wanted to wrap up the day. 

Taking my case off the table, I followed Boscha into the sound room, finding her leaning against the wall. "How you doing?" She asked me, eyeing me up and down for a moment. 

"Fine." I muttered, setting my guitar case in its place. The teal lights of the room flickered for a moment, making the two of us look up at them before back at each other. "What about you?" 

"I can't tell if you're trying to take this conversation off of you or not." She muttered with a chuckle, softly shaking her head. 

"I'm genuinely curious." I said, starting to leave the room. Boscha followed after me, closing the door behind her. She quickly appeared by my side and the two of us started to walk down the hallway to my room. 

"Well, I'm okay I guess." She shrugged, then gave me a bit of a nudge. "But what about you? After everything that happened yesterday and everything now..." Boscha trailed off as we approached my door. "Dork den?" 

"Blame my siblings." I muttered, opening the door. Stepping inside my room, I made sure to close the door behind Boscha when she walked in. She moved over to my desk, glancing at herself in the mirror. "But to answer your question, I'm... gods I don't even know." 

Moving over to my cot, I sat down and ran my hands over my face, pulling slightly at the skin. I could see Boscha glance over at me from in the mirror, then she turned her gaze back to herself. "How much sleep did you get last night?" 

"Great question." I let out a chuckle, laying down on the cot with both of my hands over my stomach. "Why do you want to know?" I turned my head in her direction, watching her turn around to face me.

"Cause honestly, all of what's going on isn't good for any of us. Especially you." She pointed towards me, pulling out my chair and sitting in it backwards. "You're the one who's been through the most... well, besides Luz." 

When she mentioned Luz, I felt myself tense up. "Yeah..." I muttered, turning my gaze to the ceiling. Boscha started tapping on the chair, probably still staring at me. 

"Amity..." She started, making my ears twitch. "You know you can bail on this show, no one here would blame you. And to be honest, it'd probably be the best thing to do." I could feel my throat tighten, my hands playing with the fabric on my shirt. 

"I can't just bail." I chuckled, turning my head in her direction. "Do you know how fast the fans would riot? How quick those stadium owners would spread a bad word about us? I'm not letting my emotions ruin our reputation Boscha." 

"The fans would be fine, we'd just explain what's going on. And the stadium owners? Who's gonna care about what they have to say once we tell the public what happened yesterday? And honestly Amity, which would ruin our rep more? Us bailing on a show, or you not being able to complete one?" 

"I'll be able to complete the show." I muttered, my grip tightening on my shirt. "I may blow up in the stadium manager's face the moment we set foot there, but I'll be able to get through it." 

"Are you sure about that?" I didn't give an answer, instead, I sat up and turned to face our bassist, noticing the concerned look that was etched on her face. "Amity, I know you're basically doing all of this out of spite, but you can tap out." 

"I don't need to. I'm not going to. They want us to do a show, and I'm gonna give it to them. They'll just have to deal with the little gifts we're gonna leave behind." I stood up, stretching my arms out slightly before moving towards the door. Behind me, I could hear Boscha sigh, then stand up, the chair scraping against the floor. 

"There's no way to convince you not to do this, is there?" I turned back to face her, watching her shove her hands in her pockets. I shook my head, making her sigh again. "I worry for you some days, I really do. But... I'm not gonna be left out of all the fun. I'm gonna go talk to your siblings, help them out with your plan." 

Giving her half of a smile, I slowly made my way out the door. I passed through the main room, finding my siblings both on their scrolls while Matt was nowhere to be found. "Hey, there you two are!" Emira chirped, making Edric look up. "What're you guys gonna do now?" 

I hesitated for a moment, folding my arms over my chest before looking down. "I'm... gonna go see Luz." My siblings glanced at one another, then back to me. "I don't know if you guys have any other plans, but you can come with me if you want." 

My brother was about to chime it, but Emira gave him a nudge, keeping him quiet. "Just, give us a call if anything happens sis." She said, her voice soft. I gave her a nod, then slowly started to make my way to the door. Giving everyone a wave goodbye, I went out the door and closed it behind me. 

Letting out a sigh, I started to make my way to the hospital. Wringing my hands together, I tried to keep my mind clear, trying to think of something other than what happened yesterday. Most of the walk was a blur, that is, until I made it towards the edge of the market. 

The market was bustling with life, like always. But today, there were some familiar faces trying to quickly trying to leave the crowd. "Eda come on!" A squeaky voice hissed, belonging to King, who scampered out from in between two stands, quickly followed by a tiny owl and the owl lady herself. 

"Pipe down you pipsqueak! I'm already hunted down by the guards enough as is, if they found out about this..." She floated two satchels behind her, one green one that was filled to the brim with human items, and the other was a blue color, but was slowly forming red splotches.

I stood frozen in place, watching the witch and demon argue for a moment before I cleared my throat. King jumped in surprise, instantly trying to hide behind Eda's leg while she started to draw a spell, but stopped when she realized who I was. 

"She's gonna sell us out!" I could hear King hiss, but Eda gave him a little nudge, shutting him up. She gave me a little wave, putting on a lopsided smile. 

"Hey there kiddo! What're you doing around here?" The owl lady asked me, subtly trying to hide the blue satchel behind her. I glanced down at the satchel for a moment, then noticed how Eda's hands were bloody and bruised.

"I'm... going out to see Luz." Her eyes widened at the mention of her student, but she just nodded. "What are you doing?" Looking up at her face, I noticed the smeared bit of red under her nose. 

"Nothing that worries you!" King snapped, pointing a finger up at me. Eda instantly glared down at him, making the tiny demon back down. "I, I mean, you don't have to worry about it!" He tried to say, struggling to save his skin. 

"Can it King." She hissed before sighing, then turning to me. "But he's right, you don't have to worry about what I'm doing. I'm just taking care of something." Her voice dripped with venom. Eda popped her fingers, giving a rough kick to the blue satchel. Whatever was inside the satchel let out a low groan, making Eda's eyes flicker with nervousness, but only for a moment. "Now, if you'll excuse me kid, I've got to go before some guards show up and catch me." 

She gave me a salute, then turned on her heel to leave, King trotting after her. "Wait!" Eda froze, turning her head to face me. "Is... is it...?" I pointed towards the blue bag, giving her a look I knew she'd recognize. 

Her eyes glanced down at the bag for a moment, then back up at me. I could see the fire that was lit in her eyes, the anger hiding behind it all. She gave me a short nod. 

I looked down at the bag, feeling my breathing get heavy. With shaking hands, I slowly clenched them into fists, feeling my anger boiling up. As hard as I could, I gave a rough kick to the bag, hearing something crack when I hit it. 

The satchel let out a loud yelp in pain, soft whimpers following after. I then looked up at the owl lady, giving her a nod, then miming me zipping my lips closed. She let out a chuckle, then gave me a smile before turning around and heading in the direction of the owl house, both of the satchels floating behind her. 

Staring at her walk away for a minute, I then let out a shaky breath, letting my hands loose. Turning around, I continued on my walk to the healers, letting my thoughts wander on what the owl lady was going to do to that satchel. 

Walking into the hospital, I went up towards one of the healers. "I'm here for the human." I said, knowing they probably wouldn't know Luz by name. The healer's eyes lit up for a moment, then he motioned me towards Luz's room. 

I thanked him, then slowly walked towards Luz's room, noting the bustling healers that passed by me that were missing last night. Walking up to her door, I glanced at the clipboard that still hung on her door, the message on it echoing in my mind. 

Opening the door, I slowly walked into the room. It was quiet, Luz's steady breathing being the only thing I could faintly hear. That familiar, tight feeling reformed in my chest, tears already welling in my eyes. Quickly rubbing them away, I moved over to Luz's side. 

"Hey Luz, I'm back." I muttered, pulling a seat closer to her. Resting my hand on top of her's once again, I noticed she felt warmer than she did last night. "I'm sorry it took so long..." My ears slowly went down as I struggled to think of something else to say. 

Staring at her face, I noticed her bangs hanging over her eyes. Carefully, I brought a hand up to her face, running my fingers through her bangs. They were still surprisingly soft, making a ghost of a grin appear on my lips. 

My mind jumped back to the clipboard and its message. "Under no circumstances, do not use any healing spells on the patient." I let out a shaky sigh as the thought stayed bold in my mind. I continued to run my fingers through her hair with one hand as I raised my other hand.

"Just one spell..." I mumbled, staring at her face as my finger traced out a spell. "Just one spell wouldn't hurt you, right?" I continued to trace out the spell, tears blurring my vision. 

Doing this would bring her back, she would be okay. She'd open her eyes and be completely healed, like nothing ever happened. Like she wasn't hurt.

It'd just take one simple spell. 

Just one.

I paused right before the spell would be complete, my hand shaking so bad that I couldn't hold it still if I tried. Letting out the breath I didn't know I was holding, I wiped away the spell and put my hand back down over hers. 

"I can't." I could barely say, my voice was shaking so bad. "I can't. If I did that and it hurt you, I wouldn't forgive myself." My hand that was running through her hair trailed down till it was cupping her cheek. 

And for a moment, I swore she leaned into my touch. 

"You're gonna be okay right Luz?" I asked, knowing I wouldn't get an answer. A yawn rose from my throat, but I ignored my brain's demand for sleep. "You'll wake up soon, right?" 

There was no response. 

I softly ran my thumb over her cheek, swallowing down the lump in my throat. These were the best healers in the Boiling Isles, they'd make sure she'd be okay, yet a small thought in the back of my mind kept barking that something could go wrong. 

"So please... Luz wake up."


	19. Confess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this make up for what I did in Bang???
> 
> I sure hope it does lmao....

Luz POV:

It's cold. 

I've been stuck here for what felt like forever. Everything was dark and though I tried, I couldn't move. Why couldn't I move? It was all a blur. Bits and pieces stuck out to me, but everything else was trapped in a fog. The most I could remember was up to when I tried to take the weapon from the creep. Everything after that though was spotty. 

Where even am I? It was all black around me, so that didn't give me any clues to where I was. Is this what being stuck in limbo feels like? That would mean I was dead, but that didn't sound right. My body may be stiff and everything hurts, but I wasn't dead. Was I asleep? That seemed more likely.

Another question stuck out to me, one that was constantly getting louder by the minute. Was Amity okay? I don't think he hurt her after I went down, in fact, I think she hurt him. How much she hurt him, I had no idea, though knowing her, I assume it was a lot.

I tried to move again, finding out that my limbs felt heavier than before. That was new, but I couldn't tell if it was a nice feeling or not. 

Then, while I was still trying to figure out what was going on, there was a sudden warmth. On the side of my face, just cupping my cheek was this warm feeling. It was comforting, something so different from the cold, inky blackness surrounding me. 

Turning my head, I struggled to lean into the warm feeling, closing my eyes to savor the moment. The warmth spread to the rest of my body, leaving me with this cozy feeling. It felt so much nicer than how the rest of my body felt. 

And then everything felt heavy again. 

Now I felt like I was lying down and I could hear some kind of mumbling. It sounded familiar, whoever or whatever was talking. Trying to open my eyes, I realized now it was a lot harder to do. I barely managed to get them open after a minute, and it hit me that everything changed. 

Now, instead of the darkness, my vision was blinded by the bright light of a room.

My body was stiff and sore, my side pulsing with constant pain. Whatever I was wearing was scratchy and irritating. One side of my face throbbed, while the other was cupped in someone's hand. That had to be that warmth I was feeling a bit ago. They stroked my cheek with their thumb, an action I found relaxing. Looking over in their direction without turning my head, I realized they were a blur. I blinked a couple of times, trying to clear my vision.

Very slowly, what used to be a blob of a person cleared up, revealing a familiar teal haired witch sitting by my side. I could see the tears rolling down her cheeks, dripping onto her shirt as she stared at me. She was quiet, her lips forming a broken smile. 

"Please..." Her voice wavered, sounding so vulnerable that it hurt, it hurt a lot worse than the physical pain I was feeling right now. She sniffled, a soft hiccup escaping her as she stopped stroking my cheek. Her hand didn't move away from my face, but I could feel her fingertips scratch slightly at my skin. 

I don't think she could tell I was awake. My throat felt dry, but I struggled to muster up enough strength to speak. "Amity?" I was able to rasp, making Amity gasp and pull her hand away from me in surprise. 

"Luz?" Struggling to move my arms, I started to sit up only to be quickly, yet gently pushed back down by Amity. Then, the moment I was laying back down, she threw her arms around my neck and pulled me in a tight hug. "Luz!" She exclaimed, her ear lightly rubbing against my cheek as it went down. 

"Hey..." I said simply, struggling to raise an arm up to wrap around her. She was trembling as she held me, her breathing shaky and I felt a few tears drip down onto my shirt. Amity pulled away from me, tears rolling down her cheeks as she smiled. 

She brought both of her hands to cup my cheeks, pulling away her hand from one cheek when I winced at the contact. "How? The healers said you wouldn't be awake for days! How are you awake?" I gave a bit of a shrug, wincing when my arm grazed against my side. 

"Disney magic?" I hoarsely suggested, making Amity raise an eyebrow. 

"What magic?" She asked, wiping her eyes though her tears were quickly replaced. I sat silent for a moment, blinking a few times. 

"I forgot... I'll have to show you some of those movies, it's a crime not to watch The Little Mermaid at least once." I gave half a chuckle, which was quickly cut off as sharp stabs of pain attacked my side. 

Before I could say anything else, Amity pulled me into another hug, keeping me quiet as she chuckled. Slowly, I tried to sit up again, noticing my arms weren't as stiff as before. Amity once again pushed me down, making sure I stayed down. 

"Stay down." She told me firmly, pulling me back into a hug. "You didn't have a plan when you rushed in there, did you?" Her voice took on a softer tone. I brought an arm up to her, pulling her a smidge closer to me. 

"Not really." I admitted. "But I couldn't just stand there. I figured I could just wing it and as long as you ended up okay, I would say my plan worked." I pushed her back slightly, studying her face for a moment. The dark bags under her eyes stood out against her pale skin, making me worry. "He didn't hurt you, right?" 

She pulled away from me, her hand moving to her wrist. Before she covered it, I could see the bruised skin, making me grimace. "That doesn't matter right now." 

"Yes it does." I told her, smacking my lips together slightly. She noticed, then sighed, drawing a quick spell with one hand while she wiped away tears with the other. 

"I'm not supposed to give you water, but here." She brought the drink up to my lips, allowing me a small sip. Then, she made the water disappear, and once again pulled me into a warm hug. "But I don't care what he did to me, I care about what he did to you." 

My hand carefully moved to my side, my fingers barely hovering over the tender skin. "I care..." I mumbled, feeling her nuzzle more into my neck. Her action made my breathing hitch slightly as she started to chuckle. 

"I know you care you dork. Why else would you just run into a fight without a plan? For fun?" There was another chuckle, her ears flapping softly. I could feel her grip tighten on my shirt, her breathing getting a little shakier. 

"No, but Eda probably would." I smiled, wanting to laugh at the thought, but not to stay out of pain. "But I'd do it again you know, to make sure you're safe." Amity pulled away, a small snort escaping her as she wiped away tears. 

"That's cliche." She chuckled, making me roll my eyes. 

"What's wrong with it being a bit of cliche?" I asked her, making her shake her head. She brought her hands back down to my face, carefully cupping both of my cheeks. 

"Nothing's wrong with it." She told me softly, her face flaring up with a pink tint. "But I'm gonna make sure that in our happy little ending, you won't get hurt like this again." I could feel my face warm up at her words, her phrase sounding oddly familiar. 

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, hiding the waver in my voice. She rolled her eyes, then chuckled before she knelt down, staring in my eyes for a moment. I could see the nervous look on her face, making me raise an eyebrow. She let out a little sigh, then muttered something about completely falling off her throne.

Then, she got closer to me, giving me a soft smile before kissing my forehead. 

"I really like you too Luz." 

Her actions made a warm blush instantly spread across my face, dousing my cheeks and ears in red. My brain was instantly fried, it was almost like fireworks were going off in my head. She pulled back, a few nervous chuckles escaping the witch while her ears flapped up and down without stopping. "You do?" I finally managed to squeak out. 

"Of course I do." She said, leaning until her forehead was touching mine. One of her hands traveled down until they met with my hand, then she interlaced our fingers, giving my hand a soft squeeze. Then, she let out another nervous chuckle, leaning more into me. "Gods I've been waiting forever to say that." 

I leaned into her as well, closing my eyes. "I've been wanting to tell you that too." Amity pulled away, keeping her hand laced with mine. 

"You already did." She muttered, making my eyes widen. I raised an eyebrow, wracking my brain to try and remember when I told her.

"You've lost me." I muttered, Amity's gaze falling down to the floor at my words. I looked down at our hands, then gave her hand a squeeze. 

"Yesterday..." She finally mumbled, the pink dying away from her cheeks. "While I was rushing you here, you managed to tell me how you felt." One of her ears twitched, her voice slowly going out. I ran my free hand through my hair, trying to remember. 

"I did?" She nodded her head. 

"You said you'd rather be safe than sorry, just in case you..." Her eyes flickered for a minute, not finishing her sentence. Instead, she closed her mouth and bit her lip, her eyes going glossy again. 

"Mierda." I cursed under my breath, making Amity perk up slightly. "Not the way I wanted that to go." She looked over in my direction with a questioning glance, her thumb starting to lightly run over my bruised knuckles. I chuckled softly, ignoring the sharp pain in my side. 

"Not exactly the way I wanted it to go either." She let out a nervous chuckle. "I was too worried about what was going to happen to you to let your words sink in." I nodded my head, my eyes looking around the room. 

"Well then, let me make it up to you. Once I get out of here, I'll take you to the spot I was going to take you and go through with the rest of my plan. How does that sound to you?" She smiled, tilting her head slightly.

"You mean, once you're healed. You're not doing anything crazy for awhile." I scoffed, placing a hand over my chest and feeling just how warm I was getting. 

"What makes you think I'm gonna do anything crazy?" I asked with a smile, making her roll her eyes. 

"Because it's you Luz. And knowing you, you probably planned something big." She smirked. I thought back to my plan, noting a few of the things I had in mind. Then, I sighed, running my hand through my hair again, feeling the warmth radiating off of my cheeks.

"Okay fine, you caught me." Amity chuckled, shaking her head. We both fell silent for a moment, a comfortable kind of silent. I looked up at the blood bag next to me, another question coming to mind. "How'd they manage to get my blood type? I don't even know what my blood type is, let alone you guys." I asked, earning a shrug from the youngest Blight.

"Dunno, the only thing I know is that, that blood in that bag isn't human. It's witch blood." My eyes widened, then my gaze quickly went between Amity and the bag a few times. 

"Witch blood?" I asked softly, turning my gaze up to the bag. "I have... witch blood, coursing through my veins right now?" Amity nodded. "What's that gonna do to me? Anything?" 

"No clue. No one knows to be honest. The healers have you connected to that because that's the only type your body wouldn't reject. So that means, unless your body rejects this kind, it's gonna keep you alive." 

"It is?" Amity nodded her head, but I looked down at my hands. Slowly flipping them over, I could feel a smile barely form on my lips. "I wonder if this'll give me witch powers or something..." I could see Amity roll her eyes, but she didn't say a word. We fell silent again, my gaze slowly traveling around the room. "It's a lot quieter here than at hospitals back at home." I said, making Amity tilt her head. 

"How so?" She asked, making me chuckle. 

"There's no constant beeping. Back at home, you're usually connected to a heart monitor." I glanced over to my side, noticing the floating blood bag being the only thing connect to me. "Honestly I can't tell if that's nice or not..." I muttered. 

"It sounds like it's a lot less obnoxious." Amity said, then her eyes widened. "But speaking of obnoxious... no one else knows you're up!" Her hand let go of mine, the warmth leaving me. The witch quickly pulled out her scroll, leaving me questioning how something obnoxious reminded her of everyone else.

Quickly tapping a few buttons, she clicked call on one then floated the scroll away from her, meaning she probably put it on speaker. It rang once, then someone instantly vfpicked up. "Mittens? What's the matter?" Emira asked, a bit of panic laced in her voice. 

"Luz's up!" Amity quickly said, her eyes glowing. 

"Hey Em!" I managed to push my voice to sound a little louder than a whisper. Emira stayed quiet, probably out of shock. 

"Get the owl lady and get down here!" Amity paused for a minute, her eyes darting towards me then back to her scroll. "Well, be careful when you go to get her, she might be having a target practice session right now." Then, she hung up on Emira before she could respond. 

We both went quiet again, I slowly turned my gaze down to her hand. Slowly, I took a hold of her hand, catching her off guard. I started to run my thumb over her knuckles, making her smile softly.

My gaze moved to her wrist, noticing the bruise. A low growl came from my throat. "I'm gonna kill that guy next time I see him. I promise." She looked up at me, then shook her head. 

"No way. He nearly killed you. I'm not letting you get near him." She scowled, then the ghost of a smirk appeared on her lips. "Besides, Eda's gonna take care of him." 

"She will?" Amity nodded, bringing her hand back up to my cheek. I leaned into her touch, enjoying the warmth. "So she knows what happened." I muttered, feeling my eyes flutter closed for a minute. 

Amity noticed, her gaze softening. "Are you tired?" I gave her a small nod instead of saying anything, making her sigh. "You want me to go wait for the other's outside then?" 

"No!" I quickly said, my hand reaching up and grabbing her wrist. "Stay, please?" I closed my eyes again as she started to stroke my cheek with her thumb. 

"Alright, I'll stay." She muttered softly, still stroking my cheek. She fell silent, giving me the chance to nearly doze off. "Luz?" I barely opened my eyes, acknowledging that I heard her. "What are we?" 

I thought about it for a minute, then shifted slightly. "What do you want to be?" I asked back, making her eyes widen and her ears go down, a pale blush rising to her cheeks as she backed away from me. She looked down, her eyes darting across the floor for a moment. 

"I, I uh..." She stammered, her blush getting darker by the second until her face was a dark red shade. "I want... I want to be your girlfriend." Amity finally managed to say, her hands clenching into tight fists. "If that's what you want!" She frantically added, holding her hands up defensively. 

Smiling, I chuckled softly, taking a hold of her hand again. "I'd want nothing more." I put on a dumb accent, successfully making the witch laugh. "Are you sure though? I never gave you a proper confession." 

"Technically you did, but if you don't want that one to count, then I gave you one." She pointed out, still smiling. 

"True, true." I smiled, then motioned for Amity to come closer. She did as I asked, then squeaked in surprise when I pulled her into a hug. The Blight froze up for a moment, then returned the hug, softly nuzzling into my neck, the warmth of her face radiating onto my skin. 

She let out a nervous fit of chuckles, her breath hitting my neck and sending shivers down my spine. "Girlfriend." She muttered under her breath, then nervously chuckled again, making my ears burn even more. "I've wanted to call you that for a couple years now..." 

"Really?" I asked her in disbelief, Amity nodded her head. "Wow... that long."

"I tried to do it sooner, but I've never had the guts to say anything. I almost asked you out a few times... but it never happened." I could feel her try to get closer to me, making sure to be careful of my side. "And well, by the time I manged to gather up the courage to tell you, you had to leave." 

"I'm sorry..." I mumbled, making Amity tense up. 

"Don't be. I knew you had to go back eventually and I waited for too long. Besides, you're here now and I've gotten it off my chest." She chuckled again, her laughs sounding like music to my ears.

We both went quiet again, just relaxing for a moment, then something else came to mind. "Amity?" She hummed in response, pushing away from me. "You want anyone else to know about us yet?" 

Amity went to say something, then hesitated. "Well..." She paused, lightly tapping her chin as she mulled it over. Her eyebrows furrowed together, her ears slowly going back up. "On one hand, I don't want to be like Em and Viney and pretend we aren't a thing." 

"They're a thing?" Amity softly nodded her head, ignoring my disbelief. 

"On the other hand, maybe we should wait till you get out?" She suggested, her voice going soft again. 

"Back up, Viney and Emira are a thing?!" I asked again, raising my voice slightly and making Amity roll her eyes. 

"Yes Luz, they're a thing." She said in a monotone voice, taking my hand in her's. "Dunno how long they've been a thing, but they're a thing. Em just likes to deny it." Her lips turned up into a smirk, a low, sinister chuckle rising from her throat before she shook her head. "But that's besides the point, what do you think about waiting to tell people till you get out?" 

I shrugged, ignoring the pain in my side once again. "Works for me." I gave her a dopey grin, my eyes slowly starting to close. Amity started to rub circles onto my hand, slowly lulling me to sleep. "Amity wait." 

"What?" She asked, making me barely open my eyes. 

"Can you kiss me again? Please? I've got a headache because of the lights and it'd make me feel better." I asked with a smile, making Amity blush. Then, she rolled her eyes and gave me another quick kiss on the forehead. "Thank you~"

"Whatever you big dork." She laughed, ruffling my hair slightly. "Now, you should probably rest until the others get here." I nodded, then closed my eyes and drifted off. 

It didn't last long, because what felt like a moment later, the door swung open, smacking the wall with enough force to wake me up. Looking over at the door, I spotted Eda, King, and the Blight twins, all staring at me wide eyed. 

I groggily smiled at them, giving them a small wave. "Luz!" King cried, quickly running over and jumping up onto my bed. "My buddy's alive!" He exclaimed, running up to hug me. In the process, he rubbed against my side, sending a wave of pain through my body. 

Clenching my teeth together, my hand instantly went to my side as I let out a choked cry. "That...!" I managed to choke out, feeling tears sting the corner of my eyes. King froze, looking down at my side before back up at me, his eyes widening. 

"Oh geez! I'm sorry!" He quickly started apologizing, waving his little paws around. I shook my head, biting the inside of my cheek in an effort to distract myself. 

"It's... fine." I managed to say, swallowing down the tears and giving King a smile. "It's just... tender." Letting out a breath, I leaned my head back, moving my hand away from my side. Sitting back up, I pulled King into a hug, making him squeal. 

"I missed you." He mumbled, carefully nuzzling into my neck so that his fangs wouldn't poke me. 

"I've only been gone a day!" I told him, making him huff. Looking up, I met my mentor's eyes, which were surprisingly glossy. The sight took my off guard, but I covered it up. She chuckled, rubbing one of her eyes with her wrist. 

"Glad you're up kiddo." She said, giving me a caring, yet lopsided smile. "I knew you wouldn't be down long." Eda chuckled, then walked over to my side, ruffling my hair. 

"Sorry it took us so long to get here!" Emira appeared by my other side, startling me. 

"We had to help the owl lady with something!" Edric appeared by Eda, startling me once again. Glancing between the two of them, I noticed a few odd, red dots on their clothes. They weren't large, making them not as noticeable. 

"It's alright." I told the four of them, then I furrowed my eyebrows. "What did you need their help with?" I looked up at Eda, who's eyes darted to the twins, then back to me. She snorted, then ruffled my hair again. 

"Don't worry about it kid." She told me, which only made me question things even more. Edric leaned down, resting his head on the palms of his hands.

"By the way, Boscha says hi. She would've been here to see you, but something came up. And Matt..." He trailed off, glancing over at his twin with a questioning look. 

"Honestly, Matt probably wouldn't have come anyways." Emira said, shrugging her shoulders. "But his excuse was that one of his friends wasn't responding to his messages, so he wanted to figure out what was up with him." 

"That kid has friends?" Eda asked, making the Blight twins laugh. "Seeing how he interacts with you guys, I'm surprised." 

"So were we." Edric chuckled, standing up. "Let's just say, our reaction did not make him very happy." 

"When is he ever happy though?" Emira asked him, making her brother tap his chin as he thought. His eyes lit up up and he opened his mouth to say something, but then he quickly stopped, shutting his mouth with a nervous look. "That's what I thought." 

King pulled away from me, placing both of his hands on my face. Then, he lightly tapped one side of my face, his eyes slanting down in anger. "Don't do something dumb like that again! You should've brought me along for protection!" I chuckled while Eda rolled her eyes. 

She picked King up by his collar, a weh escaping his muzzle as he thrashed about. "What would you have done?" Eda asked him, turning him around so he was facing her. 

"I would've sicked my demon army on him! Rip him apart limb by limb!" King said dramatically, making Eda snort. She shook her head, placing King back down by my side. 

"Sure you would've." King shot her a glare, but it didn't last long. "But seriously Luz, don't do something like that again. You really had me worried..." Eda scolded, but unlike her other lectures, I could tell this time she was serious. 

"I won't." I said, watching as the twins moved over to the door. "I did it because I wanted Amity to be safe." Glancing around the room, I noticed the Blight I was referring to was absent. "Speaking of, where is Amity?"

Eda shrugged, but both the twins turned in our direction. "Mittens went out to get a drink." Edric said, leaning his back against the corner of the frame. "She slipped out a little after we arrived." I nodded, then was pulled into a headlock by Eda. 

She lightly ran her knuckles through my hair, clearly being careful. "Still worrying over Lilith's apprentice more than yourself, what's new there kid?" A light blush started to rise to my cheeks, but I don't think any of the other's noticed. 

Then, as if on cue, Amity walked back into the room. Her ears were down as she held a clear cup in her hand, presumably filled with water. She looked up at me, giving me a soft smile. "Hey! Sorry for disappearing." 

"It's fine." I mumbled. Eda quickly let go of me, placing her hands behind her back as if she was worried Amity was going to chew her out. 

"Yeah, it's fine Mittens, we know you were just trying to avoid us~" Emira teased, wrapping an arm around her sister's neck, nearly making her fall and spill her drink. Edric copied his twin's actions, smirking the entire time. 

"Yeah, she just wants to be alone with Luz~" He taunted, making the youngest Blight squeak in response. She quickly shoved the two of them away, opening her mouth to say something harsh, but instead, she just took a sip of her drink, grumbling under her breath. 

Eda snorted, shaking her head as she picked up King. "Well then, let's give her what she wants." That made Amity choke, nearly spitting out her water as she struggled to cough up the bit she inhaled. "Besides, I've got work I need to finish." 

"At the stand?" I asked her, making her glance down at me for a moment before shaking her head. 

"No, not the stand. This one's more personal than the stand. And a lot more time sensitive, otherwise, I'd stay longer." She said, the twins eyes lighting up at her response. They quickly made their ways to her sides, putting on their signature charm. 

"Mind if we join you?" Emira asked, placing her arms behind her back. "After all, you said you still needed help before we came here." Eda glanced between the two of them, a small, malicious smirk rising to her lips. 

Amity glanced between the three of them, giving them an acknowledging look without saying anything to them. "Sure kids. But, I'd change out of those clothes if I were you sharp shot." She pointed towards Emira, eyeing her outfit up and down. "Don't think you'd want to ruin those." 

Emira's hand slowly went up to her neck, blinking a couple of times before giving it a rub. "Alright." She mumbled, a nervous tone laced in her voice. That made Amity smirk, but she still didn't say anything. 

King squirmed out of Eda's grasp, dropping back down onto my bed before dashing over to me to give me another hug. His actions caught me slightly off guard, but I was quick to hug him back. "Promise me you'll be home soon boo-boo buddy?" I couldn't help but chuckle at the old nickname. 

"I'll try to be." I told him, giving him a small kiss between the eyes when he pulled away before booping his nose. "Try to stay out of trouble while I'm here, okay?" His eyes slanted downward slightly, but then he sighed. 

"Fine. I'll try." He grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. Eda picked him back up again, this time keeping a tighter grip on him. "But you can't stop me from summoning my demon army from destroying that sorry piece of-" Before he could finish, Eda clamped a hand over her mouth, effectively shutting him up. 

"And that will be our cue to go!" Eda chirped, running her tongue over her snaggle tooth. "We'll drop by again tomorrow, okay kid?" I nodded, making her smile. "Great. Now come on you Blight hooligans, let's go cause some chaos!" 

"Please don't burn anything down." Amity begged her siblings, who only rolled their eyes at her. Nudging each other, they chuckled and started to make their way to the door. 

"See you around cutie!" Emira called over their shoulders, both the twins giving me a wave goodbye. Eda lingered in the doorway for a moment, staring at me with a look that I couldn't quite read. Then, she gave me a quick, two fingered salute and followed after the Blights, leaving me alone once again with Amity. 

She stared at the door, watching it close before she let out a sigh. "Those three..." I could hear her mumble as she moved by my side to take a seat. 

"Wonder what they have to do..." I muttered, noticing how Amity seemed to tense up. She turned her gaze to the door again, her ears moving down slightly. 

"Yeah... I wonder..." She finally said, pulling lightly at her shirt collar. Amity finished off the last bit of her drink, then set the empty cup down on the floor by her feet. 

I turned to the witch, noticing her hand doing small circles close to mine. With a small grin, I took a hold of her hand, making her squeak before nervously chuckling. "What'd you do today?" I asked, trying to find a way to break the silence. 

"Went to band practice and then visited you." I blinked a few times before furrowing my eyebrows together. 

"There was practice today?" Amity slowly nodded her head. "I don't remember that..." 

"That's because I called for one..." She muttered, her gaze turning away from mine. "Since something's came up." 

"Something like what?" I asked her, giving her hand a light squeeze. She stared down at our hands for a moment, then sighed, turning her head towards the wall. 

"The gig. We've still got to play." My eyes widened when she said that, all memory of the next show suddenly flooding my mind. 

"The gig!" I exclaimed, startling Amity when I quickly tried to get up. "That's in what? Two days, right? I've gotta catch up on practice then!" I managed to get up onto my elbows, then when I tried to push myself up, I was struck with some of the worst pain I've felt in my life. 

Instantly, I went back down onto my back, barely able to make a sound of pain. "Luz!" Amity yelled as I scrunched my eyes shut, my trembling hands hovering over my side, too afraid to touch it in case I were to make the pain worse. 

A low string of broken curses escaped my lips, most of them in Spanish. After a couple of minutes, which felt like a lot longer time, the pain seemed to dull down a bit. I was able to open my eyes, and though my vision was blurry, I could see Amity standing there, worry written all over her face. 

Slowly, she brought a hand up to my cheek, wiping away the tears. Instead of getting angry that I tried to move, she softened up. "Want me to get a healer? Find something to numb the pain?" She quickly asked, but I shook my head, swallowing down some of my tears. 

"No..." I managed to squeak out in a shaky voice, leaving my hands over my side. "I'm fine." I lied, and I knew Amity could see right through it, but she didn't try to argue. 

Amity sighed and sat back down, leaving her hand lingering on my cheek. "But no, you don't have to catch up on practice. And you aren't going to until you get better." 

"But the gig needs a drummer!" I managed to say, gritting my teeth. 

"I know it does, and that's why we had Edric take your place for this show. Believe me, we don't even want to do this gig to begin with..." She muttered, a bit of venom laced in her voice as her gaze turned steely. 

"Then, why are you doing it?" I asked after a minute of silence, making Amity's ears go down in response. Although it was low, I could hear a growl rising up from the witch's throat. 

"Because..." She hissed, her golden eyes glinting with anger. "The stadium manager refused to let us cancel, even after we explained to him what happened to you." 

"Wow..." I muttered, letting my jaw go loose and biting my lip in an attempt to distract myself from the throbbing pain. "That's a jerk move." 

"Tell me about it." Amity groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Then, she chuckled, rubbing my cheek with her thumb again. "But, they've chose the wrong band to pull this card with, cause we're about to make that stadium a nightmare." 

I looked at the witch, raising an eyebrow. "And how... do you plan to do that?" I asked, struggling to shift slightly. 

"Oh you know, letting my siblings and Boscha rig the stadium with pranks, play a new song so that we go over time, snapping at the owner, and that's only a small part of it." She gave me a smug smile as she listed everything off. 

"Wait, a new song?" Amity nodded her head, a proud look glinting in her eyes. "What kind of song is it?" I asked the singer excitedly, making her chuckle.

"A slow song." She said, instantly making me confused.

"But, you told me that the band doesn't do slow songs?" She nodded again, giving my cheek a soft pat. 

"I did, but you see, I found an old song I threw together years ago, and decided to use it because one, I wouldn't be able to compose a song in only a few days, and two, that would be a good way to piss the owner off. I mean, what better way to do it than a slow song?" I thought about it for a minute, then nodded my head. 

"Does this mean we'll do more slow songs in the future then?" I asked, but Amity shrugged. "I'll keep that in mind then." I said, noticing my voice got softer. Amity seemed to notice too, moving her hand from my cheek and slowly running her hand through my hair. 

"You need to rest." She said, her gaze softening. 

"I've done that all day." I tried to joke, but this time I didn't get a laugh. Instead, Amity sighed and continued to run her hand through my hair. "Sorry... that wasn't funny." I mumbled, leaning slightly into her touch. 

"It's alright..." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'll stay here with you, then once your resting, I'll ask some of the healers for a numbing potion or something for you to take to help ease your pain a little." I hummed in response, my eyes fluttering closed, but trying to stay at least halfway open. 

Then, barely awake, I reached up to Amity's arm. She made a sound that told me she was confused, but she didn't say anything. In one swift motion, I pulled her down to my level, earning me a squeak of surprise. 

I kissed her cheek, her ears pinning down so fast I could feel the slight breeze that came from them. "That's thanks... for earlier." I told her with a smile, watching as she stood frozen in place, completely unsure on what she should do. 

Slowly, I could see her bring a hand up to where I kissed her, a big, dopey grin forming on her lips. Amity let out an excited little chuckle, her ears flapping almost a mile a minute and clearly not gonna stop anytime soon. Her reaction made me chuckle just a little bit, then I closed my eyes, and for the first time today I was able to fully block out the pain in my side. 

The last thing I heard before falling asleep was Amity's voice, as soft and angelic as ever, though it was a bit higher pitched than normal. 

"Thanks Luz."


	20. Spill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COUGH COUGH
> 
> Would this be considered fanservice or filler? 
> 
> Or is it both like-
> 
> idk at this point
> 
> Also, bit of a violence warning here folks! It gets kinda graphic at some points ngl
> 
> (Thank you to whoever reminded me to put a violence warning here since I forgot the first time like a numbskull)

Eda POV: 

The four of us walked out of the hospital, both the Blights chuckling and nudging each other. King squirmed in my arms, finally breaking out of my grasp and climbing up to my shoulder. 

"Why are we letting them help again?" He whispered to me, subtly glaring at the two green haired witches in front of us. I snorted, shaking my head.

"Because, why should I leave them out of the fun?" King rolled his eyes, turning to face the twins in front of me. "Hey, listen." He didn't do anything to acknowledge that he was listening, but I didn't care. "What kind of witch would I be if I left them out of getting revenge for their sister? I did the same thing when I was younger." 

"But you did it for reasons way less risky than this." He pointed out, making me roll my eyes, even though he had a point. 

"Okay fine, I did do it for reasons less severe than this. But, as long as they don't say anything to anyone else, they'll be fine." The demon on my shoulder rolled his eyes again, muttering a whatever under his breath. 

Ahead of me, I could hear the twins muttering their new plan. Suddenly, Edric's fist lit up in flames and he forced it forward. "Just like that!" He said, looking to his sister for approval. She tapped her chin, then shook her head. 

"No, you gotta do it with more force. Right over the heart too." She told him, which he nodded and shook his hand a few times to put out the flames. I smirked at the two, glad they already had ideas. 

"Remember you two," I started, making both of them jump. "we can't kill him yet. We've gotta make him hurt." They turned back to me, nodding their heads. I glanced at Emira, eyeing her outfit up and down again. "By the way, I've got a shirt at home you can wear so you don't ruin that fancy thing." 

But, she waved her hand at me, shaking her head. "No need, I've got a tank top under this, I'll be fine." I stared at her for a minute, then shrugged. 

"Whatever you say kid. If you want, you can give me the sweater now and I'll just send it to the owl house or whatever." Her eyes widened, but she reluctantly nodded her head. Slowly falling behind her brother until she matched my stride, I could see her cheeks light up. 

Then, she quickly pulled the shirt off, her face a bright red. Lining both sides of her neck and collarbones were numerous purple marks, too many to keep count. I held back a snort, watching as she sent a weary gaze in her twin's direction, holding the sweater up to cover herself while her bright red ears pinned themselves down. 

With a low sigh, I cast a spell, then placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. "He's not gonna see anything." I told her, but I could tell she didn't believe me. I shook my head. "Kid, we're magic. You're welcome by the way, that'll last till later tonight." 

She blinked a few times, then very slowly handed me the sweater. Drawing another quick spell, I teleported her sweater back to the owl house. Emira picked up her pace until she was beside her brother, striking up conversation with him once again. Clearly, he couldn't see her marks, just like I told her. 

"So!" King suddenly chirped, his voice being so loud it made my ear twitch. "What else is in store for the guy?" His eyes glittered with excitement. I shrugged, making the demon whine. 

"Dunno yet." I told him, noticing that the twins turned around to face us. "What I do know is that I want answers. So, that's what we're gonna get." King nodded his head, I could feel his claws digging slightly into my shoulder as he let out an evil chuckle. 

"Ask and you shall receive!" Edric chirped with a smirk, turning to his sister. "After all, what better way to get answers out of somebody than by using our charm?" 

"If by charm, you mean beating him into a pulp, then yes." Emira said, making him chuckle. Then, they both started to whisper among themselves again, both of them rubbing their hands together the longer their conversation went on. 

I stayed out of their conversation, thinking of my own ways to give that guy a piece of my mind. By the time the owl house came into view, I could feel the sinister chuckles bubbling up from my throat. 

A few yards away from the house, I could hear Hooty's voice holding a one-sided conversation with the guy. "And that's when I swallowed my friend fly! So technically, I know what friendship tastes like! Hoot hoot!" 

King groaned, covering his ears. "How can he be more obnoxious?" He grumbled, but I only laughed. 

"Because it's Hooty. Nothing is impossible when it comes to him, and not in a good way. Honestly though, this time I don't mind." The twins slowed down their pace, making their way to my sides. 

"Now, you wanna hear about that time I made friends with a beetle?" My ears twitched slightly as the four of us made our way to the door. I gave the open door a few knocks, announcing our presence. "Oh! You guys are back! I was just talking with my friend about my other friends! Hoot hoot!" 

"We heard." Emira muttered, her eyes remaining in the center of the room. 

There, in the middle of the room bound by binding spells all the way down to his fingers and wrapped up in a mess of the tube owl, was the guy. His silver blue hair hung in front of his face, obscuring my vision of him. I squinted, feeling my anger rising once again. 

"Want me to keep going?" Hooty made his way towards me, twisting into a few corkscrews. I shook my head, giving him a quick pat. 

"No, in fact, you can let go of him now." For a second, I swore I could hear his breathing hitch. King jumped off of my shoulder, moving over towards the guy, glaring the entire time.

"Okay!" The tube owl dragged out his word, slowly unraveling himself from the guy. Beside me, Edric started popping his knuckles, and I could barely see the glint of anger that his eyes held. Emira on the other hand, seemed calm and collected, staring down the guy with a cold, unwavering glare. 

I moved towards him, the heels of my boots clicking against the floor. Then, I took a tight grip onto his hair and pulled his head up, forcing him to look at me. I could see that blood was still dripping his face from earlier when I hit him hard enough to split the skin above his eyebrow. He let out a grunt, barely opening his one eye that wasn't covered in the line of blood at the moment. 

"Alright Snakey." I growled, pulling on his hair again. "Start talking." He glared at me, then started to chuckle, barely able to shake his head. 

"Why should I say anything to you?" He rasped out, making me scowl. Before he could blink, I kneed him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He let out a choked wheeze, barely able to double in pain over due to how many binding spells I put on him. 

I backed up, letting him go though his strangled coughing fit for a moment. Then after a minute, I went back over to him and wrapped my hand around his throat, tight enough to be uncomfortable, but loose enough so that he'd still be able to talk. 

"Try again." I hissed, putting on a lopsided smile as I got close to his face. "Be glad I haven't used another spell set. Now tell me, why did you do it?" His yellow eyes met with mine, slightly darting over my features. I could tell he was still out of breath, his shaky breathing making me smile. 

He stayed silent, the two of us just staring at one another. Very slowly, I started to put more pressure on his neck, watching him realize, but not do anything. Instead, he furrowed his eyebrows, then spat blood in my face.

The action caught me off guard, making me stumble back slightly. Wiping the red liquid off of my face, I said nothing and just turned to the siblings, giving them a little nod. They nodded back, then lit both their hands with different spells, one with fire, the other with an electricity of some kind. 

I stuck my tongue out, trying to rub off more of the blood. "Show some class, would ya?" I snarled, watching as Edric slammed his fist into the guy's chest, just barely below where the bile sack would be, the creep letting out a strangled cry of pain in response. "After all, you could make this easier for yourself and just tell me what I want to know." 

"Yeah!" King suddenly chimed it, jumping up onto the guy's lap. "Why'd you hurt Luz?" Both the siblings took a step back for a minute, their eyes remaining on King. Panting, the guy barely looked up at King, then let out a chuckle. 

"Pipsqueak here trying to fight?" He struggled to ask, his voice going low. King started to let out a low squeal, then he moved over to the guy's arm. Not breaking eye contact, he slammed his fist down onto his arm as hard as he could, instantly making the guy choke back a shout.

"Who's the pipsqueak now huh? You're the one who got your arm broken in one kick! That makes you the pipsqueak!" King shouted, his voice rising in pitch with each word until it was just an assortment of random squeaks. 

Emira slowly went over to King and picked him up, struggling to hold him while he thrashed about. "King..." She started, only to be interrupted with another squeal. 

"No! Don't King me! He hurt Luz! I want him to hurt just as much!" His voice cracked, sounding more hurt than angry. My expression softened slightly, then I lightly shook my head. 

"I know King, we all want him to hurt." I glared at him at the last bit, hearing his soft whimpers of pain. Emira put King down on the floor, which he only flopped down and folded his arms. I made my way back over to the creep, roughly grabbing him by his chin and forcing him to look at me. 

"Third times the charm, right?" I could hear Edric say behind me, making his twin laugh. The creep's nostrils flared, tears running down his face from the pain.

"Yeah, it is." I smiled, running my tongue over my golden tooth. "So buddy, wanna start talking?" He opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him. "And if you're about to say what you did before, I hope you know that I know a good spell to slowly rip that arm of your's clean off." 

His eyes widened at my words, struggling to figure out what he should say. Then, he laughed again, this time sounding more nervous than the last. "It's not like she was my original target!" He stammered out, making the twins move closer. 

"You're right. You're original target was our sister." The short haired twin said, anger completely clear in his voice. He moved over to the witch in the chair, roughly shoving his foot down on his right kneecap "So what was your plan with her?" 

Edric twisted his foot on the guy's knee, making it pop. The guy gasped, quickly biting his lip and drawing blood with how hard he was biting down, which probably wasn't all that hard, but with teeth that sharp it couldn't have taken much to draw blood. "It's not like I was gonna kill her!" 

"So why'd you bring that weapon?" I asked, squinting at him. He didn't say anything at first, making Edric put more pressure. 

He let out another gasp of pain, gritting his teeth together. "Why'd you bring it!?" Edric shouted, putting even more pressure on the guy's knee. Emira glanced between him and the guy, then moved over to her brother, pulling him back. 

Though I could tell he didn't want to move, he reluctantly backed away but glared at him the entire time. Reaching into my hair, I pulled out my knife, flipping it open before spinning it between my fingers. Then, in one swift motion, I stabbed it into the arm of the chair, just barely nicking the spot between where his fingers connected.

"Tick tock Snakey!" I smiled, watching as his breathing slowly got more erratic. Finally, he let his head hang, murmuring his answer under his breath. "What was that?" 

"I said, to threaten her." He hissed, making me roll my eyes. 

"No really? I had no idea." Sarcasm was heavy in my voice as I took the knife out of the arm of the chair, now hovering it over his leg. "Tell me, why would you need a human weapon to threaten a witch? You already had her magic disabled with that dumb trinket of your's, so what was the point?"

Slowly, I started to lower the knife, watching his eyes follow it. "Are you really stubborn enough to not say anything and get stabbed straight through the thigh?" King asked him, struggling to climb back up on the arm of the chair. 

The guy struggled to move his arm to hit King away, but only managed to make King laugh in his face when he couldn't move. "Fine, you want an answer?" He yelled at me, turning away from King. I paused the knife right about his leg, just barely pressing the point onto his skin. 

"Of course we do." Both the twins said, moving over to his sides. Both of them hovered a hand by his ears, which quickly went up when their hands burst into flames, radiating the heat onto his face. 

Then, he started to spill.

"I'm doing this for a friend. It was all his plan. Take your sister from the shop to our spot, then he'd get what he'd want out of her. He promised me I could get what I wanted from her when he was done. The weapon was in case she put up a fight." He smiled, shaking his head. "Honestly your sister's lucky she just had to deal with just me, I almost dragged along two of my friends to help me." 

"What did you want from her?" Edric asked, making the creep laugh. He shook his head, his shaggy hair hanging over his face before he turned to the twin. "Go on, spill! We're all ears." 

"Oh wouldn't you love to hear all about it pretty boy." He spat, a sickening smirk rising on his lips when he realized he was getting a reaction out of the Blight. "But you won't get a word about that out of me. Just be grateful I didn't try anything else in that alleyway like I was going to. After all, she was pinned down and free for the taking! Wouldn't been hard to just grab her and-"

Edric let out a sudden loud yell, almost like a battle cry, before slamming the guy across the jaw with a burning fist. That one punch managed to knock the creep out, his head dangling down. The twin, with his teeth bared, started yelling at the guy, speaking so fast I wasn't able to catch a word he was saying. 

"I'll kill you!" He suddenly yelled loud and clear, a spell circle forming around his wrist. On the other side of the chair, I could see his twin's eyes widen, now looking kind of afraid of him. "Go on! Keep talking you sorry excuse of a witch!" It hit me that he didn't realize he punched the guy's lights out. 

Slowly, I walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Edric didn't look up to acknowledge me, but I could see his face going red with anger. "Ed, you knocked him out..." Emira told him with half a chuckle, a nervous edge to her voice. 

"He's faking." Edric growled, his hand trembling. "You don't get to play dead to get out of this! You hurt Luz, you hurt my sister, I'm gonna make you hurt!" He raised his hand again to strike him, but I held him back. 

"Alright kid, take a walk. Unfortunately you can't rip him open yet. We haven't gotten all our answers." His head snapped around to face me, both of his eyebrows tightly furrowed together, his eyes filled with rage. I glanced over at his hand, noticing his knuckles were bleeding. "King, go get the bandages from upstairs." 

King nodded, quickly scampering off. The Blight finally looked at his hand, opening and closing it a few times. Then, he scoffed, muttering things under his breath before going over towards the front door and throwing it open. "Oh hey there!" Hooty started, but was cut off when he slammed the door. 

"I don't think I've ever seen him that angry." Emira said after a minute, staring at the front door. 

"Can't blame him though." I muttered, thinking back to all the times I would be blinded by rage when someone did something to my sister. I heard the stairs creak as King's tiny body made his way down, bandages in his paws. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised one of you guys didn't snap earlier." 

"Believe me, I'm at my point. Edric just beat me to it." She glanced back at the guy behind us, a snarl rising up from her chest. "How have you not snapped at him yet?" The Blight asked me, raising an eyebrow. 

I let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head softly. "I haven't snapped yet because if I do, he'll be dead. Honestly it'd be good for the Boiling Isles to get rid of him, but we can't do that just yet." 

"Where'd the other green one go?" King asked, standing by my legs. I drew a quick spell, taking the bandages from his hands. "He didn't go off to snitch did he?" 

"One, he's just out for a walk to cool off. Two, do you really think these two would be ones to rat us out?" King glanced over at Emira, then folded his arms. 

"Well, they're related to the other green one, and you know how she is." The demon huffed, making Emira snort. She shook her head at King, struggling to keep a serious face. 

I rolled my eyes, giving King a little nudge with my foot. "And where were you when these two would prank stands around the market?" The demon shrugged, turning back to the creep. 

"Can I wake him up?" He asked, excitement filling his eyes. "I'll summon a demon to rip his fingers off if you want!" King jumped up and down slightly, excitement coursing through his veins. 

"Save that guy for later." I told him, my ears perking up when I heard the front door open again. 

"Welcome back! Hoot hoot!" Hooty chirped, Edric grumbling an answer in response. I spun around to face him, noticing the dangerous glint that his eyes still held. With a snort, I tossed him the bandages, which he fumbled before clutching them tightly to his chest. 

"Good to see you've kinda cooled down." I said, watching as the Blight haphazardly rubbed his knuckles on his shirt, leaving a red streak. "There's for your hand, patch up while we wake him up." He gave me a nod, unraveling the bandages and proceeding to wrap them around his hand. 

I turned back around, then turned to Emira, my ears twitching when she popped her knuckles. "Can I wake him up? Please?" King asked again as he jumped up and down, circling around the chair. 

"No way, you woke him up last time." I told him, watching as his eyes slanted downward in irritation. However, I ignored his response, then turned to Emira, shooting her a smirk. "You wanna wake him?" 

"With pleasure." She said in a fake happy tone, drawing a spell circle. Instantly, sparks shot out from his chair, almost instantly waking him up. I let the spell go on for a minute, then put my hand up for her to stop. "Alright you creep." She hissed, stepping forward and grabbing him roughly by his chin. "Who's plan was this?"

"Not... telling you... anything." The creep struggled to say, glaring at the Blight with half lidded eyes. Emira squinted her eyes, then summoned a sharp shard of ice, plunging the shard right next to his legs, the wood splintering in response. 

"Wrong answer." She said as she pulled the shard out of the chair. "Try again. Who's plan was this?" The Blight asked again, clutching the ice in her trembling hand. 

He hesitated, his eyes darting over to me, then to Edric before going back to her. "Fuck you." He mumbled, making the Blight squint. She stabbed the ice down again, this time creating a long cut on his inner thigh.

A drawn out hiss of pain escaped his lips followed by a river of curses directed at the twin. "Don't make me pour salt into the wound." Emira threatened, placing a hand on his shoulder. He jumped in response to the contact, his ears twitching. "So you get one last chance, who's plan was it to kidnap our sister?" 

Glancing at her hand, I could see small sparks flying a little above her hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched King crawl up onto the couch with a book, quickly flipping through pages. 

Turning to him while the Blights dealt with the creep, I loomed over him, looking over the book he was reading. In the middle of the page there was something that looked like a giant pentagram. "Whoever's in my light needs to move!" He said in an annoyed tone, turning around to face me. 

"What are you trying to summon?" I asked with a snort, going to pick up the book only for him to swat my hand. Somehow, he managed to hit my hand hard enough to make it fly off. "Really King?" 

The demon stuck his tongue out at me, then turned back to the book while I bent down to pick up my hand. "I'm trying to find out how to summon a Megrolach!" The name made a chill go down my spine, but I shook my head. 

"No way, you aren't summoning one of those things. That'd kill all of us." I told him, slowly twisting my hand back on while my mind pictured the demon's long, sharp claws. King laughed, still flipping through the book. 

"Not unless I told him not to. After all, I'm the King of demons! He'd have to listen to me!" He exclaimed, flipping another page before slamming his hand down on it, pointing to one of the pentagrams he landed on. "Bingo!" 

While he scanned it over, I turned to the twins, who were both talking among themselves, occasionally pointing to our tied up 'friend'. Not turning to them, I glanced back down at what King was reading before talking to them. "What are you two planning?" 

"A way to get him to talk." The long haired twin said, then the guy started to laugh, telling them that there'd be no way to get him to say who was behind all of this. 

"Eda? Do we have a vile of Snaggleback blood by any chance?" King suddenly asked, making me blink a few times before raising an eyebrow. 

"Why would we have that?" I asked, taking the book from his lap. He squeaked in response, then started jumping up to try and take it back. "And no demon summoning in the house King. I'll let you do it outside, preferably a demon I can deal with once it gets out of hand." 

"It won't get out of hand!" He yelled, jumping up onto the couch arm in an attempt to grab the book. "I'll control it! I'll make it bow down to me!" A snort rose from my body as I teleported his book away. 

"Sure they can get that low to the ground?" That earned me an offended gasp, then King sat down on the couch and folded his arms in a pout, blowing a raspberry at me. "Anyways, what have you two found out?" I moved over to the creep, noticing he had his head down again. 

"Nothing so far." Edric mumbled, roughly grabbing the guy's hair and pulling his head back onto the chair, making him hiss. "But I'm this close to not playing nice." I watched as he signaled how close he was to snapping, his fingers pretty much touching. 

Rolling my eyes, I waved him away, both of the siblings taking a step back. I pulled his head back forward, forcing him to look at me. He glared, but behind all that I could see the smallest sliver of fear.

"What? Are you gonna threaten me again you old hag? Hah! You don't scare me!" He said, clearly lying to me. That made me cackle, startling not only him, but the twins and King. 

I dug my nails into his shoulder, lighting my hand up in flames and holding it there. "That's a funny joke bud!" I wiped away a fake tear, letting out a few snorts, before focusing my gaze onto him, watching him squirm in pain. "But all of us here can tell it's a lie. Now, if you just tell us what we want to know, we may just considered gifting you with the sweet bliss of death. If not, we can continue this little charade for as long as necessary. In fact, I could probably drag Luz and Amity down here and leave them to decide what to do to you, how does that sound?" 

He let out another laugh, though this one was more nervous than the last. "And what are those two kids gonna do to me, huh? Probably nothing worse than what you guys have already done." 

"Oh really? How are you so sure? After all, Amity's the one that broke your nose and your arm, you really think she's gonna stop at that? In fact, I have that little weapon of your's stashed around here somewhere, whatddya think's gonna happen if I give that to her and let her go wild with it huh?" I could see his face lose some color at the mention of his weapon, his eyes quickly darting down to his pockets. 

"How... how did you..." He quickly started trying to move, frantically trying to reach his pockets to pat them down. I let out another laugh, shaking my head and extinguishing my hand. 

"You really think I'd just leave a weapon like that on you? After seeing what it did to Luz? No way buddy, that's in my stash now, and no one's ever gonna touch it again." The creep looked back up at me, his pupils down to thin slits. 

"Why do you care anyways? All I hurt was some dumb human!" The smile that was on my face instantly went away as I gave him a rough punch to the jaw, feeling the sting in my hand as I did so. 

"You hurt my kid and her future girlfriend, that's why I care." I hissed, grabbing his neck and giving it a tight squeeze. "And I want answers as to why. If you spill, I may reconsider ripping your organs out while you're still awake before selling them at the night market for a decent amount of snails, now who's plan was it?" 

He opened his mouth, and I already knew he was gonna yell that he wouldn't snitch. But, then we all heard a buzz. The twins ears perked up while his went down, his eyes going wide. In an instant, they were by his sides, reaching into his pockets before Edric pulled out his scroll. 

"No!" He panicked, watching as Edric quickly unlocked it. 

"Wow, you don't have a password on this. How convenient~" He smirked at his twin, who only smiled as the creep continued to panic. "Also, to correct your statement from earlier, I think you meant future wife." Edric said with a chuckle, tapping a few buttons on the scroll. 

His remark made me chuckle, but I was quick to suppress it. The guy quickly started thrashing in his chair in a desperate attempt to break the binding spells. "Stop! I'll rip your eyes out if you don't!" He threatened in a higher voice, only making the twin shake his head. 

"Do you really think I'm gonna take that seriously?" The short haired twin asked, then his eyes lit up as he found what he wanted before he let out a groan. "Really dude? You don't save anyone's numbers in this thing? Yeesh, how do you even know who you're talking to?" 

"What's it say?" I asked, pulling the Blight out of his rant. His eyes quickly scanned over the message, then he started to scroll up. 

"Someone's looking for him." He muttered, glancing up at the snake eyed creep. "Are your buddies getting worried that you won't show up to murder hour?" Edric taunted, making the guy growl. I motioned for him to pass the scroll over to me, which he quickly did. 

I glanced it over for a moment, then looked up at the guy in the chair. "Last chance. Wanna tell us?" He instantly shut his mouth, his busted lips forming a tight line on his face. I shrugged, then drew a circle to light his scroll up in flames. 

The scroll let out a small screech in response to the fire, then quickly disintegrated until it was nothing but ash. I watched the ash twirl through the air for a minute, then I blew it directly into his eyes. Both the Blights started to chuckle, evil glints in both of their eyes. 

With tears streaming down his face from the ash, the guy turned to me. "You aren't getting anything else out of me! You might as well kill me to save you some time." He muttered the last part, hanging his head down. 

There was a moment of silence between the four of us, then King piped up. "I can't tell if you're doing this in hopes we pity you, or if you're being genuine." All of us instantly burst into laughter and the guy lifted up his head. 

"Yeah, as if we'd ever feel sorry for you!" Emira said, shaking her head and moving in front of him. "After you tried to kidnap and do a bunch of unspeakable things to my sister only to shoot her future girlfriend?" 

"Wife!" Edric and I chimed in at the same time before snickering.

"Right, anyways, you really think we'd feel sorry for you? Sorry buddy, but you're at the wrong place, and especially the wrong person. You've already tried forcing me to kiss you, so what do you want to attempt now huh?" 

"He what?" Edric said, a shocked look flashing across his features. I took that as my cue to take a step forward, blocking him from the creep. That did practically nothing because he quickly walked in front of me, his breathing heavy. "So you've threatened both of my sisters?!"

"Ed, stop." Emira muttered, making him spin around so fast I thought he'd fall over. 

"What?" He hissed, giving his twin a glare. 

"He did worse to Mittens. Besides, Luz saved me when he showed up. Ain't that right buddy?" The girl taunted, making the creep sneer. Edric spun back around, taking the guy's bloody shirt in his hands. 

"Listen you yellow bellied, no good, slimy stain on the Boiling Isles' soil piece of shit." His voice remained low, holding an edge. "If you somehow survive whatever she has in store for you," He jabbed a thumb in my direction. "I will make sure to finish the job, you got that?" 

The creep let out a choking sound, then spat blood all over Edric's shirt, making him let go almost instantly. Emira glanced over at her brother, then back to the creep, taking a few steps forward before leaning down to get in his face. She drew a quick spell, sealing his mouth with an illusion. 

"And if I find out you do anything to him, my sister, or Luz, I will feed you to a slitherbeast." She then put on a malicious smile, backing away from the guy before releasing the illusion. Then, she drew another spell, and there was a second of silence.

Then the guy let out a strangled shout, panic filling his eyes. He coughed a few times, water coming up and spilling onto his lap. I raised an eyebrow, looking over at the witch who was filling his lungs with water. 

I let it go on for a minute, listening to the guy struggle before I sighed. "Alright cut it out, I'll already have enough to clean up once I'm done with him." Emira glanced in my direction, then sighed, stopping the spell. 

He gasped for air, still letting out a few coughs as he tried to expel the last bit of water. "And I thought I was being violent..." Edric mumbled, shooting a glance over to his sister before quickly shaking his head. 

"Okay you two, so I don't scar you, you should probably get going." They both let out a disappointed whine, putting on a fake pout. "Now don't do that, that isn't going to work on me. Luz has made me immune." 

"Fine..." Emira groaned, shooting one last glare to the creep. "Besides, we should get going before Mittens asks what we're doing." 

"Yeah." Her twin nodded, folding his arms over his chest before pulling away. "Besides, I want to change." 

"Me too." Emira said before perking up, turning to me. "Can I get my sweater back?" I nodded my head, summoning her sweater before handing it to her with a wink. Glancing over at the guy, I noticed he was unusually quiet. 

I saw him with his head dangling down, a big smile on his face. Not bothering with asking why he was smiling, I drew a quick sleep spell and cast it on him, watching him droop down a little further when it took effect. 

With a sigh, I turned back to the kids. "So, what are you two gonna go do now?" They both looked at one another, then shrugged. 

"Probably just go back and hang out at the studio, see if Boscha wants to join us or something." Edric said, looking over at his sister, who avoided his gaze. 

"Well, Viney said she wanted to hang out today so..." She trailed off, a light blush rising to her cheeks. I put two and two together, then smiled and shot her a wink, which only made the witch's blush worse. 

"Great, make her come to the studio. The more the merrier!" Edric threw an arm around his sister's shoulders, pulling her close. "Think I'll be able to convince Mittens to join us?" I snorted, softly shaking my head. 

"You'll have to. Luz needs her rest, she can't do that if she's ogling at your sister." Both the Blights shot each other a sly look, making me smirk. "So, give her a call and get going. Things are gonna get messy here soon." 

They gave one last look to the guy, then gave me a salute, walking out the door and leaving to go to their house. I waited for a minute, then let out a sigh. King looked up from the couch, his pout from before completely gone. "Is he dead?" 

"No he's not dead!" I said, placing a hand on my hip. "At least, not yet he isn't..." King rolled his eyes, sinking back down onto the couch. 

"So why haven't you killed him yet?" He asked, leaning against the arm of the couch. 

"Because, he hurt Luz, so I want him to hurt just as bad. And because I haven't used him as a grudgeby target yet." I told him, staring at the creep with squinted eyes. "No one hurts my owlet and gets away with it alive." I muttered under my breath, but King perked up. 

"What did you just called Luz?" He asked, a teasing tone in his voice. My ears went down, but I quickly put them back up. 

"What? Luz called herself that before!" I said, trying to cover my slip up, but King only laughed. 

"Whatever you say Eda. I hope you know Luz is gonna hear about this." He taunted, making me scowl. I folded my arms over my chest, staring down the tiny demon. 

"Say anything to Luz and I'll take your tail." I told him, making him squeak before protectively grabbing onto his tail. Then, I sighed, looking back once again at the creep tied down to the chair, still asleep. "But speaking of Luz, I'm gonna go see the kid. See how she's doing." 

"Didn't you just tell those two to get the blushy one to leave because Luz needed rest?" King questioned, but I nodded my head. 

"Yeah I did, but that kid's been with her for hours now. We were there for only a couple minutes." I pointed out, making King nod. "You wanna come with?" I asked him, but he surprisingly shook his head. 

"Nah. I love Luz, but right now, I've gotta nap." He mumbled, stretching out before curling up into a ball onto the couch. Almost instantly, he was out like a light. I rolled my eyes, staring at the tiny demon for a moment. 

"Well then, he should be out cold for another hour or so, so I'll be fine leaving." I muttered to myself, quickly summoning my staff. It whizzed into the room, proceeding to smack the guy pretty hard on the head before hitting my palm. I smiled, watching the bit of blood slowly stain his hair. 

I went out the door, giving Hooty a few taps to wake him up. "Oh! Geez! What is it?" He grumbled, a little annoyed that I woke him up. 

"I'm going out." I told him, taking a seat on my staff. "Make sure that the guy doesn't leave again." Hooty opened his door, looking at the guy in the chair for a moment before slamming shut again, spinning around in his frame. 

"Okay! Just be back soon, hoot hoot!" I nodded my head, then gave my staff a tap. Instantly, Owlbert spread out his wings and took off, speeding off towards the hospital. 

My hair flowed behind me, the wind whistling loudly in my ears. It was a nice night, warm enough that the wind didn't bug me. But, the ride didn't last long, because soon enough, Owlbert started to lower himself to the ground. 

The lights to the hospital were off, meaning I wouldn't be able to get inside. "Shoot." I muttered, then I started to walk around the building, looking for another way. In, I made it around to the back, then found some kind of hole in the wall. 

Peering inside, I realized it was like a tunnel, which I found odd that it was wide open like this. However, that didn't stop the smile that found its way to my lips. "Jackpot." I whispered to myself, taking a few steps inside. Once I was in, I drew out a quick spell to teleport me inside the actual building. 

I glanced around the dark place, feeling a shiver travel up my spine. "Yeesh, would it kill them to at least have a torch or two around here?" I muttered, my feet taking me to Luz's room while I continued to look around. 

It didn't take long for me to arrive to Luz's room, but when I got there, I noticed the clipboard that usually hung on her door was now on the floor. I bent down and picked it up, flipping it over to see if anything was the matter with it. 

"Weird..." I said, too soft for the walls to pick up and echo it back to me. Hanging the clipboard back on the door, I slowly pushed it open, the door not making a sound while I opened it. Inside, I noticed some light glowing in her room. 

"Ah, she's already casting spells again." I thought to myself with a smile, slowly slipping into the room. But, that smile quickly disappeared when I realized the light wasn't from Luz. 

Rather, there stood that Matt kid, looming over Luz with a fire spell in his hand and a dull expression on his face. I quickly realized that he wasn't using the spell to see when he started to slowly lower the fire spell right above Luz's face.


	21. Fired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes

Amity POV: 

I spent a few more hours with Luz, and while most of that time she was asleep, I didn't mind. By the time she came around again, I was just softly humming to myself, rubbing her bruised knuckles. The tune wasn't anything specific at first, but then it slowly shifted to some song Luz had showed me a bit ago.

"Nice tunes." She mumbled, making me jump. Looking over at her, I could see the small smile on her face, her tired eyes filled with happiness. I scoffed, shaking my head slightly. 

"Not like you haven't heard my tunes before." I mumbled, feeling my cheeks warming up. Luz gave a small shrug, laying her head back onto her cot. 

"Still doesn't mean I don't think they're nice." I could see her other hand move by her side, gently tracing and poking at different spots. "I can't tell if I'm numb or if I'm just poking too high up." She said, making me roll my eyes. 

I gave her hand a small squeeze. "How bout, you don't test it and just relax?" I told her, which only made her shake her head. 

"But how am I supposed to know if the witch blood didn't make me immune to pain?" She mumbled, poking a spot a little closer to her wound, which clearly didn't feel good. Instantly, she bit her lip, holding back her words as her hand clenched into a fist. "Not... immune to pain." She finally said after a minute through clenched teeth. 

"I told you not to." Luz sighed, moving her hand away from her side to run her fingers through her hair. "But, you didn't listen." I could hear a low chuckle as she gave my hand a couple of squeezes. 

"But Amity!" Luz made sure to drag out my name, making me roll my eyes. "How am I supposed to know what new witch blood powers I've got if I don't try?" 

"Luz, nobody said the blood would give you magic powers." She put on a pout, giving me puppy eyes. "And besides, you need to just take it easy." 

"But that's like asking a shark to stop swimming!" She groaned, placing her arm over her eyes in a dramatic fashion. I raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what kind of creature she was talking about. 

"A what now?" I chuckled, making her move her arm slightly to look at me before sighing. 

"Right, you don't know. Honestly why do I keep forgetting that?" She softly asked herself, making me chuckle again. "So basically, a shark is a really dangerous kind of fish. That's probably the best way for me to describe it." 

I hummed in response, softly nodding my head. My eyes slowly moved to the wall, catching a glimpse outside to see the sun setting. A yawn rose up from my throat and I struggled to stop myself from stretching out. 

Luz caught onto my actions, her expression quickly becoming tinted with a bit of worry. "What?" I asked, rubbing my eyes softly. 

"You tired?" I noticed how her voice suddenly was a lot softer than before, all that energy from moments ago instantly being toned down. 

"Maybe a little." I told her with a sigh, straightening out my back to pop it a few times before going back to my current position. "But I'm alright, don't worry about it." 

"Well, you can go if you want. You don't have to just stay here with me." She told me with a chuckle. "Besides, you should take care of yourself, especially since I gave you such a scare yesterday." Once again, she chuckled, but this one sounded more guilty than the last. 

Shaking my head, I let go of Luz's hand to take out my hair, my ears going down for a moment before perking back up. Slipping the hair tie on my wrist, I took a look at her, noticing her wide eyed stare. Her look made me chuckle, then I shot her a wink, watching the blush rise to her cheeks. 

She leaned her head back, covering her face with her hands as she let out a low squeal, clearly making sure to be careful of her wound. Her reaction made me laugh, which only made her squeal get worse. "You're cute." I muttered, not completely sure if she caught what I said. 

"Smooth Blight, real smooth." Luz said, still covering her face. 

"Hey, I learned it from you Noceda." I shot back, making her freeze up. She slowly lowered her hands from her face, which was a bright red, before she squinted at me. 

"Okay hold on, you can't just be a bright red beautiful mess when I fall asleep, then just turn into a flirt when I wake up. Who are you and what did you do to my Amity?" We both froze up for a minute, my ears slowly going down and turning red. Then, Luz let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing both of her cheeks. "Okay... so now we're both red." 

"Yep..." I mumbled, feeling a lopsided grin rising to my lips before a small fit of giggles. "Gods this is weird..." I said, my eyes widening when the words escaped my mouth. "Not like a bad kind of weird! I'm just... still not used to it!" I panicked, mentally cringing at my reaction. "You get what I mean, right?" 

"I get it." Luz chuckled, wincing slightly at the pain, but still kept a smile on her face. "But hey! It probably won't take that long to get used to, right?" I shrugged, taking a hold of her hand again before starting to do circles on her palm with my thumb. 

"Probably." I said, stifling another yawn. We both fell quiet, just relaxing with one another. I have no idea how long we sat there like that, but it was nice.

"Know what I want to do right now?" Luz asked me, breaking the silence and making my ears perk up at her words. I hummed in response, making her smile. "I kinda just wanna snuggle up with you."

Her answer nearly made me choke, my face feeling like it was on fire. "What?" I managed to say, but Luz only chuckled. 

"I mean, clearly we can't do that right now cause of..." She gestured to her side as she stared up at the ceiling. "This. But once I get a little better, we'd be able to do that. Just the two of us relaxing, you running your fingers through my hair while we both doze off... Sounds nice, don't cha think?" Her voice was soft, a lot dreamier than before. 

Instead of saying anything, I nodded my head, my cheeks burning while my mind went a million miles a minute. But, my thoughts were interrupted when my scroll suddenly buzzed, startling us both. I pulled my hands away from Luz, pulling out my scroll to see what it was. 

It was just a message from Em. "Mittens you dork, let's go hang out at the studio or something. Besides, owl lady says you should let Luz get some rest." I rolled my eyes, quickly typing out a message in response. 

"Em, honestly I'm tired. I don't want to hang out at the studio." I let out a sigh, making my scroll disappear. 

"What's up?" Luz asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I'll have to get going here soon. Eda wants you to get some rest." I watched her eyes widen slightly, then Luz smiled, her gaze turning downward. My scroll buzzed again while Luz mumbled something under her breath. 

"Aww c'mon Mittens! It'd be fun!" Emira said, only making me roll my eyes, knowing there's no point in trying to argue against her. I glanced up at Luz for a moment, noticing how she was staring out the window before I started to type out my response. 

"Look, if I hang out for an hour, would that satisfy you?" I asked, my ears twitching slightly in annoyance. There was a moment of silence, then Emira started to type. 

"Sure." I rolled my eyes again, putting away my scroll before standing up. Luz's eyes followed me as she tilted her head slightly. 

"I'm gonna go, but I'll be back tomorrow after practice, alright?" She nodded her head, then her eyes lit up. 

"Amity wait!" I didn't move, watching as Luz struggled to sit up, gritting her teeth. 

"Luz, you need to stay down." I told her, reaching out to gently push her down by her shoulder, but she shook her head. As quick as she could, she managed to prop herself up, surprisingly without aggravating her wound any more than needed. 

"But there's something I've got to do first!" She said, the spark of energy in her voice making me smile. Once she was propped up, she motioned for me to move closer. "C'mere real quick." I did as she asked, bending down until my eyes lined up with hers. 

She smiled at me, then, slowly she reached up and cupped my face with both of her hands, her fingertips just barely below my earlobes. The contact made me tense up, my ears instantly pinning themselves down. 

Luz chuckled at my reaction, lightly scratching behind my ears. The action brought a smile on my face as I leaned into her touch, closing my eyes and savoring the moment. It was like I was in my own little world for a minute. "Dios mio, you purr?!" 

"What?!" I snapped out of my little trance, trying to pull away from Luz, but her hands kept me in place. She continued to scratch, an excited look in her eyes while I struggled to stop the sound that was rising from my throat. 

"And I thought you couldn't get any cuter!" She said, reaching up a little higher, finding a spot that made my ears softly flap. While the feeling was nice, it was overshadowed by just how hot my face was burning. "You really are like a cat!" She suddenly exclaimed, then I pulled away. 

"Alright enough." I muttered sternly, puffing out my cheeks slightly, which only made Luz squeal. "Is that all you wanted to do?" I asked her, but she shook her head and motioned for me to move back, chuckling softly. 

"No no no, come back. That's not what I was gonna do, I just got distracted. I didn't even know you did that." She said, waving me over. I shot her a glare, folding my arms over my chest. We both stared at each other for a moment, then I sighed, letting my arms fall limp at my sides while I rolled my eyes, moving back over to Luz. 

She cupped my face in her hands again, placing her hands in the same spot as before. I could see the mischievous glint in her eyes as she gave me a lopsided smile. "Don't." I warned her, making her laugh. 

"Fine, I won't. However, I will do this." She pulled me forward, struggling to get closer to me without moving too much. Then, she gave me a quick peck on the tip of my nose, sparking the already hot flames that burned on my face into a bonfire. 

I scrunched up my nose, pulling away from the drummer and quickly covering my dark red face, feeling my ears flapping. Quickly realizing what they were doing, I tried to hold those down, then tried to cover my face again before groaning and throwing my arms up in the air in defeat, making Luz laugh. 

"Stop laughing!" I managed to squeak out before instantly clasping a hand over my mouth. My gaze went down to the floor as my face continued to burn and I could hear Luz continue to laugh, a few cute snorts slipping out here and there. 

Finally, she seemed to pull herself together, her laughter dying down to a few chuckles. "I don't mean to laugh, but you're reaction was amazing." She told me, rubbing her eyes. 

"Whatever." I mumbled, removing my hand from my mouth. Standing back up and dusting myself off even though I knew there was nothing there, I slowly started to make my way to the door. "I'll see you after practice tomorrow, okay?" 

"Wait! Bring an Azura book when you come by tomorrow! Please?" Luz brought her hands together, placing them under her chin as she fluttered her eyes. 

Rolling my eyes, I gave her a smile before chuckling. "Dork." I muttered, softly shaking my head. I could hear her chuckle before she put a finger gun under her chin. 

"Your dork." She told me, giving me a wink. I chuckled again, looking down towards the floor. 

"Yeah, my dork." It felt so nice to say that. To say she was mine, it sent an electric jolt down my spine, a familiar fluttering feeling rising to my chest before snaring my heart. "My dork..." I mumbled, too quiet for her to hear. Then, I shook my head looking back over at Luz before giving her a smile. "What book do you want me to bring?" 

"Whatever one's your favorite!" She chirped, and I gave her a nod. Then, still staring at her, I slowly started to walk out of the room. Before I could leave, Luz blew me a kiss, giving me another wink. 

Her actions made me smile and I was quick to repeat them before leaving her room. Once her door quietly closed behind me, I let out a dreamy sigh, clutching my hands over my heart. 

I was trembling, but I wasn't nervous. My fingers were tingling and I had no idea why. I knew my face was some shade of red, but for once I didn't care. I couldn't understand any of it, this was different than how I was before when I was around Luz.

But what I did understand was that it felt nice, and I didn't want it to end. 

Taking a deep breath, I left the fairly empty hospital, making my way to the studio while the sun set completely. It was quiet outside, something that was a little unusual for the Boiling Isles, but it was pleasant none the less. 

While walking, I realized just how tired I was. Luz's energy was the only thing keeping me up, but now I was alone, heading to the studio when I could just be heading home to sleep. But, I told Em that'd I would at least stay an hour, so that's what I was going to do. 

Dragging my feet, I walked up to the studio door, noting how I couldn't see any lights coming from the windows. Opening the door I found it was quiet inside, the lights off. With a sigh, I turned the lights on and moved over to the table in the main room, taking a seat. 

Pulling out my scroll, I pulled up my sister's contact. "Where are you guys?" I messaged, waiting for a response. 

"Changing into some new clothes. Things got a little messy." Her answer made me roll my eyes, but I didn't shoot her another message, instead, I just put my scroll away and leaned my head on my hand, staring at part of the wall. 

My eyes slowly started to droop, blurring my vision of the wall as my head slowly started to nod forward. I jerked back up, but I quickly started to doze off again. 

Then, there was a sudden set of knocks at the door before it slowly opened, startling me awake. "Uh, hello? You here Emmy?" Viney suddenly poked her head into the room, glancing around before her eyes landed on me. 

"Hi Viney." I called out, trying to sound more awake than I was. She slowly slipped into the room, closing the door behind her softly before looking around. We both went quiet for a minute, then she cleared her throat. 

"Uh, do you know where Emira is?" She asked me, but I only shrugged. 

"Probably still at home. Give her a few minutes and she'll show." I told her, making her nod her head. She stood there for a minute, reaching a hand up to her earring and softly flicking it a few times, then she started to whistle. 

While she did her thing, I turned my gaze back to the wall, letting out a small sigh. "You don't have to stand there y'know. You can come take a seat over here or go to Emira's room or something. Surprise her if you want." I glanced over at the beastkeeper, noticing her eyes widening slightly. 

"Right, right, I'll uh, just go to her room." She let out a nervous laugh, then froze up. "Where is her room exactly?" Her tone made me snort, which only made her ears go down in response. 

"Down the hall over there." I motioned towards the hallway, Viney's eyes following where I was motioning. "Her name's on the door, not hard to miss." Viney nodded her head again, then slowly started to make her way to the hall. 

"Thanks Amity." She said as she passed me, but then she froze. "Actually, before I go, how's Luz?" I perked up slightly at Luz's name, feeling a bit of pink rise to my cheeks. 

"She's up and she's the same old Luz. Eager, optimistic, and ready to get back into the action. It's hard to convince her to stay down." Viney chuckled, softly shaking her head. 

"Sounds like Luz." She mumbled, starting to walk away. I watched her as she made her way to the hallway, noticing something that made me raise an eyebrow. 

"Viney wait." The beastkeeper spun around on her heel to face me, raising an eyebrow to me as well. I pointed to the side of my neck, putting on a small smile. "What's on your neck?" She blinked a few times, then her ears slowly started to go down as she quickly slapped a hand over the mark. 

"Griffin bite!" She quickly lied before letting out a nervous chuckle, her green eyes darting around while her free hand fiddled with her shirt. Then, she started to stutter. "You, you know how the babies get! Always nipping at whatever they can..." Another nervous laugh escaped the witch, her hand that rested on her neck closing into a fist. 

I eyed her up and down, clearly making her even more nervous before I just shook my head. "Sure..." I said nothing else, turning my gaze away from the witch. She let out another laugh and I could see her move her hand back down to her side out of the corner of my eye. 

"Well then, I'm gonna go!" She said quickly, pointing down the hallway before disappearing, making me laugh. Honestly, it made me wonder if I acted the same way. I thought that I probably did, which only made me shake my head. 

A door down the hallway opened, but I didn't hear it close. I let out a soft sigh, resting my head back down on my hand and shutting my eyes, relaxing in the silence, though it didn't last long. The front door opened again, this time louder than the last, making me jump. 

"Heya Mittens!" Edric greeted, leaning on the back of my chair before resting his chin on my head. I groaned, pushing him back slightly. "How was hanging out with Luz?" He asked, moving to my side, the dark jacket that was tied around his waist almost blending in with his black shirt. My eyes glanced down to his bandaged hand, a few questions popping up that I wanted to ask. 

"Peaceful. Unlike now." I muttered, making him gasp and place a hand over his chest. However, Emira laughed, and turning around I saw her placing a bag by the door, her baggy t-shirt almost sinking down to her knees. 

"Whatever you say sis." She walked over to the two of us, then ruffled my hair, making me groan in annoyance. "What's up with you having your hair down huh?" My sister asked, making me roll my eyes. 

"Just wanted it down. What's wrong with that?" I said as I ran my hands through my hair. Emira shook her head, then ruffled my hair again. "Would you cut that out?" 

"Nah, it's fun watching you get all red." She told me with a smile as she popped her fingers. I rolled my eyes, turning my gaze over to Edric, who took a seat at the table with his scroll pulled out. 

"Well, go find something better to do. There's a surprise waiting in your room anyways." That made her perk up slightly, blinking a few times before tilting her head and raising an eyebrow. 

Slowly, she started to walk to the hallway, peering down it for a moment before turning back to the two of us. Our sister stared at us for a second, then started to walk down the hall. 

There was a moment of silence, then I could hear both of their excited voices drift out into the main room until their door closed. Edric looked over in the hallway's direction, a big smirk plastered on his face. "Think I could get some good blackmail while we're here?" He asked me, making me shrug. 

"What's even the point of this again?" I asked my brother, which he only shrugged and leaned back into his chair, balancing himself by setting his foot on the table. 

"Call it... a celebration now that Luz is awake." He said, but I rolled my eyes. 

"Edric, there's only four of us here, one of them isn't even on the band." I pointed out. He thought about it for a minute, his eyes slowly moving across the floor before he perked up with an idea. His sudden movement nearly made him fall out of his chair, making him yelp and force himself forward. 

Once he was sure he wasn't going to fall, he smiled, giving me a nervous chuckle. "Well then, it's a pre-celebration! Tomorrow we can have the real celebration!" 

"We have practice tomorrow." I said, making him roll his eyes. 

"Do we really need it though?" Edric asked, leaning his chin on the palm of his hand. "We've got the songs down, and we've still got five days till the show. It wouldn't hurt to let one practice slip, would it?" 

I didn't give him an answer, turning my gaze away from him and down to the table, my finger lightly tracing the lines in the wood. 

"I'll take your silence as a yes!" Edric said after a minute, standing up and heading towards the front door. "Anyways, if you need me, I'll be in the spare storage!"

"Why?" I asked, turning around in my chair to face him. He shrugged, opening the door. 

"To organize." He said simply, then quickly slipped out the door. I stared at the front door for a moment, then sighed, shaking my head. 

"Note to self, don't go to the spare storage." I said aloud, then stood up, stretching my arms over my head as I stifled another yawn. Dragging my feet, I made my way to the hallway, slowly going down to my room. 

I passed by Emira room on the way, noticing the door was cracked open. Peering inside, I found both of them sitting side by side, their hands intertwined while my sister laughed at something that Viney said. 

Leaving them alone, I went to my room and pushed open the door and went into the room, not even bothering to close the door as I flopped face down onto my cot. 

Turning my head to stare at my desk, I felt my eyes slowly falling closed, then I closed them completely, relaxing in the silence. 

Not too long later I opened my eyes again, noting that it was quiet. Sitting up and stretching, I looked out in the hall, noting the lights were still on. Running a hand through my hair, I figured now would be a good time to go, so I got up and left my room, closing my door behind me. 

Once I walked out into the hall, I noticed that Emira's room lights were still on. Walking up to her door, I gave it a few soft knocks, then slowly pushed it open. 

Inside, both Emira and Viney were snuggled up against one another, the beastkeeper wearing my sister's shirt and was asleep in her arms, her arms wrapped around Emira's waist as she nuzzled her head into my sister's neck. Emira was in a light tank top only halfway awake, running her hand though Viney's hair with a smile on her face before she noticed me and tensed up. 

"Amity!" She whisper shouted, catching me a little off guard that she used my name rather than the nickname she'd always use. "What's up?" She asked a little softer, her eyes darting nervously between me and the girl in her arms. 

I leaned against her doorway and shrugged, rubbing my eyes. "Figured I'd let you know I'm leaving." I mumbled. "Cause I'm pretty sure I've been here an hour, but I don't really know." Emira nodded her head, still stroking Viney's hair. 

"Alright." She said, tensing up when Viney started to shift. The beastkeeper mumbled something in her sleep that I couldn't hear, but whatever it was it made Emira's cheeks light up. Her reaction made me give her half a smile, then I got off her doorway. 

"Want me to lock up studio?" I asked, shoving my hands in my pockets. "Cause from the looks of it, you and your girlfriend seem to be pretty comfortable." My remark made her cheeks turn a darker shade of red. 

I could see her struggle for an answer for a minute, then she spoke. "You can if you want to, but I think Viney and I will be heading home here in a bit." I nodded my head, moving away from her door. "Is Ed still here?" 

"Dunno." I told her, making her nod her head. "I'll check the spare storage before I leave." I said, then started to walk away. "See you later Em."

"See you later." She called after me, watching me as I closed her door. I sighed, shaking my head and heading to the studio's front door. Yawning, I pulled open the front door, rubbing my eyes. 

But, instead of being met with the usual view of outside, I was met with a very angry owl lady, her teeth bared and her nostrils flaring. 

"Eda?" Her golden eyes met with mine, her pupils small in anger. "What are you doing here?" I asked, making her scoff. 

"Dunno, why don't you ask him?" She snapped at me, then motioned something forward, showing me Matt bound in spells, a little bloody and bruised. He growled, turning his head to glare at the owl lady. "Go on!" Eda hissed, but Matt only shook his head. 

Matt turned to face me, his eyes widening and his ears going down when he realized who I was. "Amity!" He nervously chuckled, his eyes darting back to Eda for a moment. Eda suddenly tightened her fist, the spells around Matt tightening as well. 

"You're lucky I didn't hurt you any more than I already have when I saw you lowering that fire spell onto her face." Eda spat as she shot our sound director a cold glare, making my eyes go wide. 

"What?" I asked, watching as Matt's face drained in color. He frantically glanced between me and Eda, struggling to come up with something to say to save him. 

"Go on, tell her what you were gonna do to Luz!" She hissed, making my eyes go wide. Suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore and it was quickly being replaced by anger. 

The sound director couldn't even come up with a response to save himself. I could feel my blood boiling, quickly spilling over the edge as Eda threw Matt down onto the ground, removing the spell. Matt stayed down on the ground, not daring to move while the owl lady was glaring at him. 

Then, she spun around to face me, rubbing her temples in frustration. "You figure out what to do with him. I'm going back home." She growled, getting ready to leave before I grabbed her arm to stop her. 

"Luz isn't hurt, right?" I asked, worry masking my anger for a moment. Eda shook her head, her eyes meeting with Matt's for a moment. 

"No, at least, not any more than she already is. I managed to stop him before then." She said as I let go of her arm, then she walked out of the door, waving behind her. "Have fun." 

Matt stood up, dusting himself off. Instantly, I went over to him, shoving him back down to the ground. "What were you doing?!" I yelled at him, watching as he rolled his eyes and scoffed. 

"What kind of answer do you want me to give you?" He asked sarcastically, his voice wavering slightly even though he tried to cover it. His response only made me even angrier, my nails digging into the palms of my hands. 

"You know damn well what kind of answer I want Mattholomule!" I hissed, watching his eyes widen slightly when I used his real name. Before he could blink, I grabbed him by his shirt, wanting to desperately wring out his neck. 

"Uh... what's going on out here?" Emira popped her head out from the hallway, Viney following shortly after. 

"This doesn't involve you!" Matt yelled over his shoulder, but I shook him to focus on me instead of her. "Look, I can't give you the answers you want if you keep shaking me like that!" 

"I could force it out of you this way though!" I hissed, his hands going up to tightly grip at my wrists. "Now you better be able to think on your feet because if I don't hear a good excuse on why you were trying to light Luz's face up in flames I will rip you apart!" 

Matt gulped, the fear in his eyes quickly disappearing as he shook his head. "No point in sugarcoating it." He said with a laugh, suddenly looking up at me with a sick smile. "I was going to finish the job." 

I froze up in my spot, Matt's eyes darting over my features. "What...?" I finally mumbled, making him chuckle. 

"What's the matter? Is the blood pumping to your ears too quickly for you to hear me?" He mocked, flapping his ears softly to mimic me. "I said, I was going to finish the job." I pushed Matt back to the ground, almost like he burned me. 

He quickly stood back up, glaring at me. I could feel myself shaking, my vision slowly blurring, whether it was out of anger or because of tears I couldn't tell, but what I did know was that staring at Matt was making it worse. 

"First that creep and now you..." I growled, but that only made him laugh even harder. "What, am I some kind of stand up comedian now? What are you finding so funny?" 

"It's just hilarious how much you really care for that human, it really is." He said, wiping away a tear from his eye. His answer made me scowl, popping my fingers in an effort to distract myself. "After all, what has she really done for you?" 

"And here we go again with your stupid grudge against Luz!" I threw my hands up in the air, but he only rolled his eyes. "What has she ever done to you anyways? What have humans done to you? Or are you just mad at her because we like her more than you?" 

"You act like you can't see the big problem with her being here Amity!" He yelled, avoiding my questions. 

"That doesn't answer anything I've asked!" I said back, watching as his face started getting red. He sputtered and shook in anger, taking a deep breath in an effort to compose himself. 

"She's the one who helped Augustus steal back the H.A.S from me." He finally said, his eyes darting to the hallway for a moment, then back to me. There was something hidden in his eyes that I couldn't read, but whatever it was, it was getting on my nerves.

"I..." I couldn't think of what to say, the gears turning in my head. "Are you fucking serious? That's it?! All because you lost some stupid club back at Hexside?!" I yelled, Matt taking a step back from me. 

But the longer I thought about his answer, the more something seemed off. "Dude that's a dumb reason!" Viney yelled from the hallway, making Matt whirl around to glare at her, but I didn't pay him any mind. Why was his answer not making any sense?

Then it hit me.

"Wait a minute..." I mumbled, catching Matt's attention. "That's not the real reason, is it?" I asked him, watching as his eyes widened slightly before he put on his signature glare. 

"And what makes you think it isn't?" I could feel my ears twitch as he gave me a dumb smirk, folding his arms over his chest. 

"Because Luz wasn't even here when Augustus took that club back from you. He did that all on his own." I hissed, getting in his face. That smirk on his face dropped, now turning into a look of fear. I grabbed a hold of his shirt again, this time pulling him up off the floor. 

"I, no he, she uh..." He started to stammer, lamely kicking his feet in an attempt to loosen my grip. However, that only made me grip onto his shirt even tighter, making sure he wouldn't be able to escape my grasp. 

"Go on, give me the real reason then." I growled lowly, hearing him gulp. "Or am I gonna have to guess why? Because right now, I'm at the end of my rope and making me guess why you'd pull something like this will make me snap." 

He blinked a few times, then an angry glint filled his eyes. "Well then go on! Go and make me sound like the bad guy!" He threatened, making my eyebrows furrow tightly together. 

"Do you really think you're innocent right now? You were just at the hospital going to hurt Luz!" I yelled. "You are the bad guy!" His eyebrows bunched together as he bared his teeth, giving my bruised wrist a rough hit, making me drop him. 

I held my wrist, a short hiss of pain escaping my lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Emira glaring at Matt, her grip on the wall turning her knuckles white. "You're acting like this is the worst thing a witch has done." He spat, making my anger shoot through the roof. "In fact, I'm doing the Boiling Isles a favor getting rid of her!" The fact he sounded so confident about it was making me see red.

"And what makes you think that?" I asked him, clenching my jaw so tightly together my teeth hurt. "So help me gods, if you use that excuse that 'She's human! She doesn't belong here!' I will not hesitate to throttle you." 

"Like you'd have the guts to." He mumbled under his breath, but before I could do anything, he held up a hand to stop me. "But I'm doing the Isles a favor because it's clear humans are bad luck! Haven't you noticed?" I blinked a few times, staring at the sound director in pure confusion. 

"How do all of your answers somehow make me angrier? But, I... I seriously can't tell if you actually believe that or not." I said, making him shake his head. 

"Oh come on Amity. She shows up and joins the band, then that creep found your sister in the market and tried to hit on her." My eyes widened and I looked up to Emira for conformation, but she looked just as confused as I was. "Then, after her first big gig, that creep shows up and nearly injures you!" 

"That wasn't Luz's fault!" I interjected, noticing how Viney and Emira disappeared from sight, leaving me alone with Matt. "None of that was Luz's fault! It was all that guy's fault!" Matt only shook his head, a low chuckle rising from his throat. 

"And how are you so sure of that? Are you really willing to place your life on the line to test it?" Luz wasn't bad luck, everyone here knew that. There had to be something here I was missing, but I couldn't tell what. 

Emira suddenly reappeared from around the corner, a familiar smile on her face. "Hey Matty?" She said sweetly, making the sound director spin around. I could hear him huff as he folded his arms over his chest. 

"Can't you see we're busy here?" He asked her in an annoyed tone, making my sister twitch and clasp her hands together, but she nodded.

"I know you two are, but it's just a few quick questions before I go for the night." She told him, making him groan and probably glare at her. He turned back to me for a moment, weighing his options, then he turned back to my sister.

"Fine, make it quick." He hissed, turning his head to the side. I looked at my sister, noticing a familiar glint in her eyes, the kind she'd get when she was planning something. 

"Great!" She chirped, clasping her hands together, her eyes meeting with mine for a moment before moving back to him. "First question, how are you absolutely sure our drummer is bad luck?" 

Matt scoffed, his arms limply falling to his sides. "Because unlike all of you, I'm not blind. I can see it whenever she walks into the room." His response made me twitch, my eyes zoned in on him while he roughly jabbed his temple to prove his point. 

Emira nodded her head, humming in response. "Okay, okay, next question. How'd you know that creep cornered Luz and I in the market?" That made Matt laugh, shaking his head at my sister. 

"You really think I don't know about something I had planned?" He asked, then instantly slapped a hand over his mouth, his ears pinning down as fast as possible as he realized his mistake. Emira's smile dropped, turning into a fierce glare. 

She turned to look up at me, then gave me another smile. "Well sis, what's that one phase Luz would use? The cat's out of the bag?" I nodded my head, making her chuckle. "That's what I thought. Now Matt, can I ask you another question?" 

"No more questions!" He yelled, spinning around only to run straight into me, where I roughly grabbed him by the arms and held him in place. "Let me go!" Before I could tell him that I wouldn't, he drew a spell circle, pushing me off of him. 

"You little-" I pushed myself back up and grabbed a hold of him again, watching the color drain from his cheeks. "Did you send him to hurt Luz too?! How'd he even get that weapon?" I asked him angrily, watching his eye twitch. 

"Do you think I really wanted the human as my original target?" He spat, ignoring my second question and roughly shoving me away. "What would I get out of her? You were supposed to be the original target!" Matt yelled, making me roll my eyes. 

"Gee, I had no idea! It's not like you sent your stupid friend to follow me into the alleyway and pin me against the wall!" I noticed my voice was rising in pitch, but I didn't care. Matt's hands clenched into tight fists, steam practically blowing out of his ears. 

"And you know what? I would've gotten what I wanted too if that human didn't interject!" 

"What do you even want out of me? A pay raise? Cause jeez, that's the best way to do it! Send one of your friends to corner me in the alleyway and threaten me!" I said sarcastically, folding my arms over my chest. But, instead of saying anything, he just laughed. 

"Honestly what's the point of telling you anything?" He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. I let out a low growl, gritting my teeth together. 

"Then why don't you tell me how he got the weapon then?" I hissed, but that only made Matt chuckle even more. 

"Being a previous H.A.S. member has its perks." He said, glancing to the side. "You find things dumped off by the owl lady, things picked up by trash slugs, honestly I'm surprised I didn't find one of those things sooner." He laughed again, making me squint. 

"And how'd you figure out how to use it? I thought you were too much of an idiot to know what different human items were, let alone how to use them?" I said to him, making him glare for a moment before just shaking his head. 

"Humans are simple." He shrugged, still smirking. "They're constantly making little books and manuals on how to use things. But that's all you're gonna get out of me, like I said before, what's the point in telling you anything else? You'll do nothing with the rest of the info." 

"Oh no, I'll use it to determine how bad I should beat you." I mumbled, popping my knuckles. "Which, might I add, I'm already considering crippling you because of what you did to Luz." Matt rolled his eyes, putting on a scowl. 

"C'mon, you can't do worse than what my friend did to Luz." He taunted, smirking at my reaction. "Though, I should say, he should've done worse."

"Matty..." Emira tried to warn him, but he ignored her. 

"I've gotta say, I am pretty mad that he didn't do worse actually. A shot to the side? Really?" He shook his head. "I mean, I know humans are pretty fragile, but most would survive that right? Then again, if he held his focus and kept you in that spell, he would've been able to do worse." 

"Matt." Emira said in more of a grave tone, reaching out to stop him, but he swatted her hand away. 

"In fact, if he had hesitated for a second longer, he would've been able to get a clear hit right between her eyes." The sound director taunted, and the longer he was talking the more I could feel myself shaking. I could see Emira back away from Matt, giving up on helping him. "Wouldn't that have been a sight to see huh? You coming back as a sniveling mess, completely covered in her blood because you couldn't save her." 

My throat felt tight, my hands balled into fists so tightly I couldn't tell if my nails were drawing blood or not. "Stop..." I managed to choke out, my voice low. 

"You should've let her die out there and you know it!" He got up in my face, still smiling. "But you couldn't do that because of your stupid feelings, could you? I was fine with this band until she showed up, and everything went downhill from there." Matt's smirk dropped, his dark eyes staring into mine. "I wish I had been there to finish the job the first time, just to see the look on your face since you care so deeply for her." 

He grabbed onto my shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. Everything was starting to sound like static, but I could hear him loud and clear when he got close to my ear, a smile still plastered on his lips. 

"After all, I've said it before, that stupid human should've died when she walked through that door." 

I saw red, then snapped. 

I don't remember throwing the punch, but I do remember watching Matt stumble back and hitting the floor, clutching his face with blood running down his nose while my hand burned. My breathing was heavy as I towered over him, noticing the fear in his eyes. 

"Get out." I told him, noticing his eyes widen even more. I brought my foot down onto his chest, knocking the wind out of him. "You're gonna leave, and you're never gonna come back. You're fired." 

We stared at each other in silence, then I dug my heel into his chest. He winced, letting out a choked yelp as he struggled to push me off of him. "What? Did I hit a soft spot?" He gave me a strained smile, but it was quick to disappear. 

"You hit a soft spot awhile ago, and your lucky I haven't hit your's." I told him, giving him one last shove in the chest before getting off of him. He slowly stood back up, dusting himself off. "Now get out." 

"Choosing a human over your own kind..." He muttered under his breath, running a hand under his nose, smearing the blood over his lip.

"You're right, I am. But everyone here knows you don't deserve to be called a witch." Matt tensed up. "And I think you know it too. In fact, Luz is more of a witch than you'll ever be." I could tell I was hitting his own soft spot. 

His hands were shaking, and out of the corner of my eye I could see his hands balling into fists. "That human can't be more of a witch." He managed to growl, but I only smirked. 

"But at least she actually uses magic in a fight, unlike you. You're a coward." I moved a little closer, watching as he hid his face. "And that's all you'll ever be to me. Not a big bad villain, not even after all you've done. All I see when I look at you, is a coward." 

I knew I was pushing his buttons, but I didn't care. I was angry, and I was going to let it out in the most peaceful way possible. After all, it was better than beating him to a pulp. But, I knew with each word that came out of my mouth, the more and more of a chance that he'd try to strike back. 

And he did. 

He let out a yell, his eyes blazing with fury as he raised his hand up to punch me. I couldn't help but flinch, waiting for the strike, but that never came. Matt grunted and I opened my eyes, seeing a spell tightly wrapped around Matt's wrist, holding his fist just barely a few inches in front of my face. 

"Wanna end up like your buddy?" Emira asked, her finger connected to the spell holding Matt in place. Matt's eyes widened, his arm falling limp. I took a step back from him, noticing how my breathing was suddenly shaky. "Get out." She told him, letting the spell go. 

Matt stood there for a minute, just staring at my sister. "What's the matter? Is the blood pumping to your ears too quickly for you to hear her?" I put on a voice to mock Matt, remembering what he said earlier. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I gave it a tight squeeze, hearing him squeak in response.

"You guys will regret this..." He mumbled in a shaky tone, making my sister laugh. 

"Will we?" She asked me, to which I shook my head. 

"Get out." I repeated to him, shoving him forward. "And watch your back. I told you once, you mess with Luz, and I'll make you afraid of me." His eyes widened slightly as he quickly made his way towards the door. "Now, are you gonna stick around and figure out what I mean by that, or do you want to give yourself a running head start?" 

Matt let out another squeak, then quickly darted out the door, slamming it behind him. I stared at the doorway for a moment, my hands shaking. Then, I let out a shaky sigh, jumping when Emira placed her hand on my shoulder. "You really gonna chase after him?" She asked with a smirk, but I shook my head. 

The stinging pain in my hand was slowly starting to get worse and worse, making me wince. I looked down at my hand, seeing the bit of blood trickling down. Emira's eyes widened slightly, then she waved Viney over, who glanced at my knuckles before sucking in a breath. 

"Geez, you hit him hard huh?" The beastkeeper said with a chuckle, gently taking my hand in her's to look over my wound. "Hold still for a second, I'll fix this." Viney drew a quick spell circle, then in a flash, my knuckles were healed. 

"Thanks Viney." I mumbled, opening and closing my hand a few times. I then let out a sigh, feeling myself slump down slightly. "Even though I want to beat him into the ground, I think I've had enough excitement for one night..." I said with a groan, Emira and Viney both nodding their heads. 

"Well then, let's go home." Emira suggested, wrapping her arm around Viney, who's cheeks turned pink at the contact. "And don't you worry your gay little head about old Batty Matty. Ed and I will make sure to take care of him." 

"Don't go hunting after him." I mumbled, glaring slightly at my sister for her remark before I made my way towards the door. "But, if you do run into him in the market or something, do whatever you want." 

She looked a little surprised by my response, but she followed after me. "You really don't want us to go after him? Get revenge?" I sighed, motioning for them to go out the door so I could lock it up. 

"Believe me, I want you to." I told her, turning around to lock the door. "But I'm not going to risk anyone else I care about getting hurt because of that maniac." There was a slight waver in my voice, but I didn't care. "If you guys hunt after him, there's no telling what might happen. So don't. I'm not planning one of your guy's funeral this young..." 

"I..." Emira trailed off, and when I turned around, I could see in the dark lighting that her eyes were glossy. "Alright Mittens... we won't go after him." Her voice was soft, Viney slowly intertwined their hands together, giving my sister's hand a squeeze. 

We started to walk home after we checked the storage for Edric, and at first our walk was in silence. I let out a sigh, running my hands through my hair. "Guys? Quick question. Why didn't you fire Matt before?" Viney asked, breaking the tension in the air. 

"Never had a solid reason to." I muttered, looking down at my hands. "Sure, his attitude wasn't great and he got on our nerves. Sure, he would make remarks, but none of it was good enough to get rid of him."

"Honestly we should've gotten rid of him sooner. Save us all this trouble." Emira said, rubbing the back of her neck. I nodded, but I didn't say anything. We all fell silent again. 

"Em? Why couldn't we have been a normal band?" I asked, running my hands through my hair again. Emira laughed, shrugging her shoulders. 

"All bands deal with creeps and freaks and obsessive fans, I'm surprised it took this long for one to show up." She said. 

"But no other band has dealt with something like this! Now our entire thing is thrown through a loop, you're gonna have to manage the sound job and the special effects, Edric's gonna have to fill in for Luz until she's healed-" Emira held her hand up to stop me. 

"Mittens, take a deep breath. I can handle Matt's dinky sound job and the special effects for one show. Everything's gonna be fine." She waved it off, then ruffled my hair. "Besides, we've dealt with worse." 

I fell silent, not knowing what else to say. My sister pulled me closer to her, giving me a side hug. I leaned into her touch, my eyes drooping slightly. Then, I moved away from her, which she didn't object to, and to break the silence Viney struck up a conversation, which we held until we made it home for the night.


	22. Before her show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes this chapter!

Luz POV: 

I drummed my fingers against my bed, staring up at the ceiling. My room was quiet, making things a lot more boring then they needed to be. I decided to look around the room, trying to find something to distract myself with. 

First my gaze landed on the window, where bright rays of sun poked through the curtains, casting the floor in their light. From the looks of it, it had to be an hour or two before sunset. I let out a small sigh, right about now was the time Amity would usually show up, but it looks like she's running late today.

Running a hand through my hair, I tried to shape part of it into a horn, chuckling when it would just flop back down. While I continued to do that, my eyes wandered until they landed on my songbook at the table by my side. 

Amity brought it a couple of days ago when I asked her to, it gave me something to do during the day. In fact, I managed to finish writing Little Miss Perfect while I was here, and once I can get back in the action, we'll start to practice it. 

The thought of us performing the song brought a smile to my face. "My song being performed on stage... who would've thought?" I muttered out loud before chuckling. I glanced out the window again, debating if I should grab my songbook and start doodling or not. 

"No, gotta keep that book professional." I told myself, reaching out for the book and plucking it off the table. Cracking it open, I picked up the pencil, twirling it in my fingers for a minute before tapping it on my chin. "But..." I dragged out, a smile slowly forming on my face. "One little doodle wouldn't hurt!" 

My pencil carefully sketched out lines for a tiny doodle in the corner of a page, slowly turning into what I was thinking about. The little doodle brought a smile to my face, which only made me work faster to complete it. 

Suddenly, my door opened, and at first I didn't pay it any mind. "Howdy!" I called out to whoever walked in, not looking up from my book. 

"Sorry I'm late!" A familiar voice said, instantly making me look up. There stood Amity, wearing a thick strapped black tank top and long grey shorts, her hair pulled into a ponytail. "I would've been here sooner, but Ed and Em were being jerks." She mumbled, making me laugh. 

"Well, better you show up late rather than never!" I chirped, making her smile. As quick as I could, I struggled to sit up. Amity moved over by my side, pulling a chair closer to my bed before taking a seat. "Though I will admit, it's been pretty boring without you here. I mean, sure King and Eda dropped by earlier, but that made it more boring when they left." 

Amity chuckled, softly shaking her head. "Whatever you say." She said, placing her hand over top of mine and sending small electric jolts up my arm. I could see her eyes darting over my page for a moment, then she let out a snort. "Is that me?" 

I glanced down at my book, my eyes widening when I realized. Quickly, I slammed the book shut, letting out a fit of nervous chuckles. "What? No!" A few more chuckles escaped me as my gaze darted between the witch and the book, but she only laughed. 

"Are you sure?" She managed to ask, her ears flapping slightly. I let out a sigh, placing the book back on the table. 

"Yes I'm sure. Now, what took you so long to get here? You're normally never late." I stammered, quickly trying to change the conversation. My face was starting to burn, but I was hoping she wouldn't notice. Amity's chuckles died down, but she was still smiling. 

"Again, I'm sorry about that." She rubbed the back of her neck, one of her ears twitching. "I needed to talk with Em about a real special effect I want to do for the show tomorrow and Skara wanted to know some more stuff about the band. You remember who Skara is, right?" I thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. 

"Her name definitely rings a bell, but I can't pin her name with a face." I could see Amity give me a subtle look of confusion, but then she shook it off. 

"Well then, we'll have to reintroduce you guys when you get better." She said, making me nod my head. "It's a lot nicer having her around the studio as our sound director instead of Matt." 

"Speaking of the ex sound director..." I paused when I noticed Amity's ears going down, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "Why did you fire him? You haven't filled me in on the juicy details yet!" 

"Oh, well uh..." Amity's gaze turned down, a nervous look in her eye. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her free hand opening and closing. Then, she shook her head and cleared her throat, her gaze meeting mine again. "Even though we're used to his snarky remarks, he finally said some stuff that crossed the line." 

Shaking my head I gave Amity a fake pout. "Aw c'mon Ammy, don't be so vague! What exactly did he say? You can't just leave me hanging like this!" I whined, making Amity chuckle slightly, though I couldn't tell if it was forced or not. 

"I'll... fill you in on all the details some other time." She said, her thumb starting to do circles over my knuckles. "Let's take the topic off of him, just thinking about him is leaving a bad taste in my mouth." Amity shuddered slightly, then shook her head. 

"Well then, why don't I give you something to take your mind off of it?" The Blight raised an eyebrow at my words, giving me a small smirk. Before she could ask what I meant, I blew her a kiss, watching as her ears went down before turning a dark shade of pink, matching the color of her cheeks. 

Amity let out a soft chuckle, her ears barely flapping up and down. "While that does take my mind off of things..." She suddenly stood up, leaning in close and suddenly giving me a peck on the cheek. "I prefer something a bit stronger to do the trick." 

I slowly brought my hand up to where she kissed me, feeling the heat that was only getting hotter radiating off of my cheek. Opening my mouth to say something, I wasn't surprised when all that came out was a squeak. 

Finally, after a minute of silence, I was able to speak. "Wow. Your lips are soft." I said, my voice high pitched. That remark made Amity choke, breaking out into a violent coughing fit. She turned away from me, struggling to catch her breath. "Sorry!" I quickly said, but Amity held a hand up to stop me. 

"Don't be-" She started, getting interrupted by another set of coughs. Amity roughly hit her chest a few times, clearing her throat in an effort to pull herself together. "Don't be sorry." She finally managed to say in a slightly raspy voice. 

"Well geez, going at this rate one of these days I'm gonna accidentally kill you!" I exclaimed, which made Amity laugh again, shaking her head. The Blight placed her hand back on top of mine and I was quick to intertwine our fingers, making her eyes widen slightly. 

"How bout you hold off on doing that till after the show tomorrow?" Amity suggested with a smile, making me smile as well. 

"Right, that'd be a good idea." I turned my gaze down for a minute, then I gasped before I looked back up into Amity's golden eyes. "I just realized! I haven't asked about pretty much anything that's gonna happen tomorrow!" 

"I mean, you kinda already know what's gonna happen..." Amity trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck. "After all, you were gonna perform with us y'know." I rapidly nodded my head, giving Amity's hand a tight squeeze. 

"I know that!" I said, a big grin finding its way to my face. "But I don't know what's changed! The outfits! The effects for the show! Heck, I don't even know how you're gonna play that new song! So start filling me in!" Using my free hand, I leaned my head on the palm of my hand, staring intently at the girl in front of me. 

Amity seemed to struggle to find her words for a second, then she rolled her eyes. "First things first, the song's a secret." I let out a gasp, placing a hand over my chest. 

"Oh come on Ammy! Tell me! Please?" I put on my best puppy eyes, and for a minute Amity managed to hold off. Then, I could see her start to crack, her ears going down and her cheeks puffing out in an attempt to stay strong.

A couple seconds later, she let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Gods you and your puppy eyes..." She muttered, more to herself rather than me. "Alright fine, I won't explain the song, but I'll explain the effects for the song, sound fair?" I nodded my head. "Since it's a slow song, we're gonna have dimmer, less colorful lights. Probably just gonna be black and white." 

I nodded my head, drumming my fingers against my cheek. "Any specific reason for that besides it being a slow song?" I pried, watching Amity's lips tug up into a small grin. 

"It'll match the tone of the song." She told me, leaning onto the palm of her hand. "And there's gonna be that special effect I asked Em to do, but if I explain it, it'll spoil the song so I won't tell you what it is yet." 

"Fair enough." I said, watching Amity's smile get a little wider. "Alright, then tell me about the outfits! Are they any different from our usual since this would be considered a 'special' show?" I did air quotes around the word special, which made Amity snort. 

"They're different alright..." She trailed off, her gaze moving towards the side as her eyes glossed over slightly. "But, I feel like it'd be a bad idea to explain them now." 

"What?!" I exclaimed, moving a little too harshly and sending a sharp jolt of pain up my side. Sucking in a breath, I scrunched my eyes shut for a moment, waiting for the pain to disappear. Amity gave my hand a comforting squeeze, trying to distract me. Once the pain subsided, I opened my eyes again, being met with a worried witch. "How is that fair?" I asked, my voice slightly strained. 

"Because, the outfits we're gonna be wearing are better seen rather than described." Her voice was softer than before and she squeezed my hand again. "I won't forget to get photos of our outfits, but I will say, I have a feeling you're gonna love 'em." 

"And what makes you think that?" I asked, hoping this would trick Amity into giving me a hint. But, Amity just shrugged, taking her hand out of mine to lay her chin down on her arms. 

"Just a hunch." She told me, making me snort. I placed my hand on the top of her head, hearing a content sigh escape the Blight. "Anything else you wanna know?" 

"The rest of your answers are gonna be vague, aren't they?" I asked her with a chuckle, making her shrug in response. 

"All depends on what you want to know." She mumbled, turning her head to the side. I moved my hand down towards her ear, watching as it quickly pinned itself down. The witch let out another content sigh when I started to lightly scratch behind her ear, the sound slowly turning into her purring. 

A squeal rose up from my throat as Amity leaned into my touch, her ears flapping. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You're like a cat." Amity chuckled, her purring getting a little louder when I started to scratch a different spot. 

"I don't get why you find this so entertaining." She said after some time, struggling to suppress her purring to speak. "I've been able to do this forever." Her cheeks were a light red shade, her ears slowly turning the same color.

"Well I for one, didn't know that!" I said. "And two, it's adorable!" Amity only hummed in response, her ears flapping a little faster then before. She let me continue for a few more minutes, then she pulled away, sitting up and popping her back. 

With a low groan, she softly rubbed her ear. "Alright, as much as I love seeing that smile on your face, my ear's getting tired from flapping so much." She flapped her ears one last time, then they perked up in their default position. 

"Well I mean..." I clasped my hands together, shooting Amity a sly look. "There are other ways to get the same results." That made Amity raise an eyebrow, a bit of confusion crossing her face. Wiggling my eyebrows, I tapped a finger against my cheek before laughing. 

I could see the gears turning in the Blight's head for a moment, then when she realized, she let out a chuckle. "You could just ask for a kiss you know." She told me, folding her arms over her chest. 

"You're right, I could. But, this way is so much more fun." Amity softly shook her head, her face quickly turning pink before she gave me another quick kiss on the cheek, leaving my face buzzing with a familiar warmth. 

"Whatever you say dork." She responded with a laugh. I leaned against my hand again, eyeing the Blight up and down for a moment. 

"Oh come on darling, you love it." I said, my voice wavering slightly. I realized now just how hard my heart was thudding in my chest, making me wonder if Amity could hear it. Amity's face almost instantly went red, her ears going down as far as they could go before going into a flapping frenzy. I couldn't help but snort at her reaction, clicking my tongue before shooting her a set of finger guns. 

She put a hand over her heart and closed it into a tight fist, her mouth opening and closing with no words coming out. "Darling?" She barely managed to squeak out, her ears somehow getting faster. 

"Yes?" I responded back in a bit more of a confident voice, fluttering my eyes. Another squeak could be heard from the witch, her face turning an even darker shade of red. For a minute, I was a little worried she was gonna burst into flames. 

At this point she finally realized her ears were flapping, and despite the fact it looked like she was short circuiting, she clasped her hands over her ears to get them to stop. Her gaze turned downward, a giant smile on her lips before she let out a shaky sigh and laid her head down, placing her hands over her head and using her arms to cover her ears. 

"I thought you said you wouldn't kill me till after the show?" Amity managed to squeak out, turning her head to look at me. I shrugged, putting on an innocent smile. 

"Well, since you're busy tomorrow, I figured I probably won't be able to see you." Amity groaned, covering her face again. "Besides, you're still alive! So technically I'm still doing what I said." 

"Yeah you are, until my heart bursts out of my chest because of how hard it's hammering against my ribs." She told me, her voice muffled. "I'm surprised you can't hear it honestly." Amity's voice was softer this time.

"Hey, I'm surprised you can't hear mine either!" I chuckled, pressing a flat hand against my chest before giving it a few taps. Amity shifted, peeking one golden eye out to meet with mine. I could see her lips tug up into a smile as she continued to stare. "So, now what do you wanna do before you have to go?" 

Amity shrugged, sitting back up. By now, her face was only a light pink shade and a bit of her hair had fallen out of its ponytail, hanging in front of her face. "Dunno. I forgot to bring an Azura book for us to read since I was running late. What do you wanna do?" 

I hummed, tapping a finger against my chin. "I mean... cuddling does sound nice right about now." I offered, my voice taking on a slight singsong tone. "But hey, that's if you're up to it too." Amity squinted at me slightly before softly shaking her head. 

"Luz, you get out of here in a couple of days, you're gonna have to wait until then for cuddles." I blinked a few times, then raised an eyebrow. 

"Wait... I get out of here in a few days?" Amity nodded her head, blowing the bit of hair out of her face.

"That's what the healers have been saying. They think you're well enough so you can leave either the day after tomorrow or the day after that." She leaned on the heel of her hand, glancing at the door for a minute before back at me. "Didn't they tell you that?" 

"No!" I felt myself slipping down, so I shifted to push myself back up. "I don't hear anything from the healers really. In fact, I don't ever see them. I just know they've been here cause they leave behind that weird potion spell." 

Amity shrugged, popping the fingers on her free hand. "Makes sense. They probably just pop in to make sure you still have a pulse." She mumbled, muttering something under her breath. "But back to the point, you're gonna have to wait for cuddles." 

I put on a pout, making Amity sigh. "Oh c'mon Ammy!" I pressed my hands against my face, squishing my cheeks. Amity shook her head again, giving me a firm stare. 

"Luz, no. As much as I want to, I'm not gonna risk accidentally hurting you even more. Besides, the cot's too small for the two of us." Her eyes flicked down to the cot for a second, then back up to me. I furrowed my eyebrows together. 

"Lies!" I exclaimed, quickly trying to shuffle over to make some room. "It's not too small, it's just a little cozy." I said, making the witch roll her eyes. "And besides, you won't hurt me as long as we're careful. And knowing you, that's something you're good at." 

She opened her mouth to say something, then hesitated, tapping her chin for a moment. "Okay, maybe you have a point there..." She mumbled, folding her arms over her chest. "Still, no. Also, don't accidentally hurt yourself trying to move." It wasn't hard to hear the concern that was laced in her voice. 

I stared at the witch for a moment, then an idea came to mind. Struggling to suppress my smirk, I let out a sigh. "Fine, no cuddles. But, how bout another kiss then?" Amity raised an eyebrow, clearly questioning my sudden change in motives before sighing. 

"You're just kiss drunk today, aren't you?" She asked me, making me laugh. 

"Hey, I've wanted to kiss you for years, I'm just making up for lost time." I told the Blight, watching the color rise to her cheeks once again. She let out a soft chuckle, leaning over to give me another kiss. 

That's when I attacked. 

"Gotcha!" I quickly wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her closer to me, making her squeak and tense up. Letting out a laugh, I rested my head on top of her head. She held her hands up, avoiding contact with my body. 

"I want to push you away, but I don't want to hit your side." She grumbled, making me hum in response. 

"And I'm gonna use that to my advantage!" She let out a sigh, her body relaxing a little bit, but she still held her hands up. "C'mon Amity, just give in. You're already in my arms and halfway on the bed. No point in fighting against it now." I could feel her shift in response, another low set of grumbles escaping her lips and she adjusted herself on the cot. 

"You know the healers aren't gonna like this if they see us like this..." Amity mumbled, slowly sliding her arms over my shoulders. 

"Like I said, they don't ever come by. We're golden." The witch seemed to hesitate for a moment, then she sighed, her breath hitting my neck and sending shivers down my spine. Slowly, she got closer to me, nuzzling her head in my neck and letting her body relax. "See? There's enough room for both of us, and you haven't hurt me." 

"This is a bad idea..." She said as I rested my chin on the top of her head. One of my hands slowly trailed up and down her back, making her shudder. Amity mumbled something else under her breath and the only word I was able to understand was 'intoxicating'. 

"And yet you haven't pulled away." I pointed out, feeling my eyes flutter for a moment before I snapped them open. "Comfortable?" Amity hummed in response. "Good..." I said as I stifled a yawn, then we both fell quiet for a minute. 

Amity smelt like a mix of vanilla and pine needles, her body really warm. It was soothing, almost soothing enough to lull me to sleep. My eyes started to flutter for a moment, then they closed and I let out a sigh. I could feel Amity tense up, her face getting warmer. 

"Are you sure I'm not hurting you?" She asked me, which I nodded my head. 

I hummed in response. "Positive." I mumbled, letting my arms rest limply against the witch. She let out a snort. 

"You falling asleep on me?" Amity asked me with a chuckle. I slowly nodded my head which only made the teal haired witch sigh. "Just don't get too comfortable, you know I've got to go here soon." 

"I know..." I muttered, breathing in her hypnotic scent again. "Can't wait till we can cuddle on something comfier than this cot." My voice was soft, just barely above a whisper. I could feel Amity nod, letting out another chuckle. 

"Neither can I. I'm surprised you can sleep on this thing." Amity shifted slightly, moving slow so that she wouldn't nudge me the wrong way. 

"Eh, I'm used to sleeping on the floor in the owl house. So technically, you could call this an upgrade." I told her, making her scoff. 

"It's not good for you to sleep on the floor y'know." I nodded my head again, only making her shake her's. "How is that even comfortable to you?" 

"Hey, it's not like I just lie down on the wood boards like a hooligan until I doze off." I laughed, opening my eyes to look at the witch as she pulled away from the crook in my neck. "I've got like, a dozen puffy blankets lining the floor. They're my stand in mattress." 

"Why not have Eda get you an actual mattress?" Amity raised an eyebrow, but I only shrugged. 

"Never bothered to ask her for one." The teal haired witch let out a sigh, lightly bopping the top of my head. "Hey!" I chuckled, bopping her on the head right back. She scrunched up her nose, struggling to suppress a smile. 

Suddenly, the door opened and a loud voice echoed from the hallway. "Yeah yeah, don't worry doc, I'm not gonna startle her!" Amity yelped, tensing up and falling off the bed in a heap. "At least, I won't startle Luz..." Eda glanced down at the floor, a lopsided smile on her face when she saw Amity. "Well, lookie what we have here!"

Amity was quick to pick herself up off the floor, dusting herself off before standing straight up with her hands clasped in front of her. "Oh, hey Eda!" I said, struggling not to chuckle at Amity's fall. 

"Hey there kiddo." She greeted, then turned to Amity. "And hey there kiddo number two." Amity gave a small little wave in response, letting out a nervous chuckle. "What're you doing here?" 

"Oh, just thought I'd drop by! See how Luz was doing before the show tomorrow, since I won't be able to come by..." The Blight trailed off when Eda barked out a laugh, a few snorts slipping out every once and awhile. 

"And by see how she was doing, you mean being all lovey dovey." Amity's ears went down, her face turning a shade of red. "Geez Luz, you gotta keep me updated on your guy's lingo." Eda jabbed a thumb at Amity, who only seemed to shrink away.

"Sorry..." I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck. My face felt warm, my cheeks probably dusted a pink shade at this point. Eda moved away from the door, standing on my side opposite of Amity. "Anyways, what are you doing back here?" 

Eda let out another snort, lightly ruffling my hair. "Weren't you listening when I said I was coming back later?" I thought back to earlier, trying to remember when Eda said something like that. 

"Uh, no?" I finally said, making Eda shake her head. 

"I swear, everything's in one ear and out the other for you." I gasped, placing a hand over my heart in fake offense before giving Eda a shove, nearly making her lose her balance. She chuckled, giving me a light shove in response. "I told you after King wrapped up his little ramble." 

"Which one? The one about his day, or the one where he was trying to teach me about a new demon? Cause I think I zoned out halfway though both of those." The silver haired witch's eyebrows furrowed together as she tapped a finger against her chin before she shrugged. 

"Honestly, I don't even know. I wasn't listening." Eda shrugged, her ears twitching slightly. I watched as her golden eyes flicked around the room before landing on Amity, making the witch squeak. "What's up with you kid? You look tense." 

"Me? Tense? Nah, I'm just... standing here." Amity said, lightly tapping her hands against her thighs. Eda eyed her up and down, then rolled her eyes, motioning for Amity to sit. Almost instantly, the teal haired witch complied.

Eda's eyes lingered on Amity for a moment, then she smiled and started to pop her fingers. "So, you have a show tomorrow? You scared?" I watched as my mentor twisted off her hand with a soft pop, making Amity's eyes widen. 

Amity continued to stare for a moment, then shook her head to snap herself out of her trance. "Maybe a little." 

"What? Worried your show's gonna bomb because good ol' Luz is stuck here in bed instead of on stage with you?" Eda pulled me into a headlock, ruffling my hair with a laugh. 

"I mean, that's part of the reason." Amity said, rubbing the back of her neck. "But, most of it is just pre-show jitters. Happens all the time." Eda nodded her head, popping her hand back in place and rolling her wrist around a few times. 

"Well then, good luck with your show or whatever." Eda told her with a smile that was quickly dropped. "Yeesh, that sounded sarcastic. Sorry kid, I'm not good with this stuff." Amity waved her off, muttering that it was alright. 

She then glanced out the window before sighing, standing up. "Well, it's getting late, I should probably go." Amity stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "I'll see you next time I get the chance, alright Luz?" I nodded my head, shooting her a sweet smile. 

"Don't forget to get a photo of your guy's outfits for me!" I chirped, making Amity smile. "Oh, and see if you can get a recording of the show somehow! I wanna see how you guys do!" 

Amity chuckled, shaking her head slightly. "They already record the shows, for broadcasting y'know?" I gasped, a big grin finding its way to my face as I quickly turned my head towards Eda, my hands clenched into tight fists out of excitement. 

Eda took one glance at me, then sighed. "Alright, before you start begging. Yes, I'll sneak something in for you to watch the show on." She ran a hand through her hair, spiking up some of it before letting it fall. "This old mane will definitely make that easy." 

The singer gave my mentor a nod, then turned her attention to me. She gave me one last smile, then made her way to the door, pausing for a moment to turn and give me a wave goodbye. "See you later Luz." 

"See you Ammy! Good luck! You guys will do great!" Amity sharply inhaled, her cheeks dusting a light pink before she nodded and disappeared out the door. Eda and I stared at the door for a moment, then Eda snorted, giving my shoulder a punch. 

"Chose a keeper there kiddo, you really have." I could feel my cheeks start to burn, a sharp, high pitched 'hey' escaping my lips as I gave her a shove. "What? Just stating the facts." Eda told me with a laugh. 

"Who says there's anything going on between us?" I folded my arms over my chest, watching as Eda's lips tugged up into a smirk. 

"Well I mean, the blush on your face is one hint." She pointed out, which only made my cheeks burn even more. "And the nickname, and the fact I found you guys snuggled up against each other when I got here, not to mention all the rest of the contact you give that girl." 

"Eda!" I dragged out my mentor's name, making her snort. "Quit it!" I told her as I lightly started punching her arm

"Alright alright!" Eda pushed my hands away, still smiling the entire time. "Let's change the topic off of blushy Blight then. What do you want to talk about?" My mentor tried to stifle her chuckles at the nickname she gave Amity with a fake cough." 

I thought for a moment, then an idea came to mind. "How bout, let's see if you can show me how to do a new spell?"


	23. Loverman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, it's time for the spite show!
> 
> Our main song for the night --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMgalQ4aNRU
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

Amity POV: 

My alarm woke me with a jolt, playing a loud set of barks and squeals that made me sit straight up in bed. Lazily reaching out a hand to try and turn my alarm off, I tried to blink away the fog that clouded my vision. Finally hitting the top of my alarm, it shut off with a snarl, stopping the annoying sound it was making. 

I ran my hands over my face, letting out a low groan. "Today's the day..." I muttered under my breath, taking a look at my window. The curtains were closed, only allowing a sliver of golden light to poke through. 

Getting out of bed, I stretched my hands over my head before making my way to my door. I knew I set my alarm earlier than usual, meaning I had a bit of time to lounge before we had to leave to get ready for the concert. 

The thought of the concert made me scowl, filling my mouth with a sour taste. Most of my thoughts about the concert were already sour, but today it seemed to be worse. I opened my door and made my way to the stairs, carefully creeping by my siblings rooms before noticing a familiar scent floating up from the kitchen. 

The stairs lightly creaked under my weight as I slowly went down the stairs, peering over the handrail. In the kitchen, there was Edric, frying something over a small fire with a smile on his face. I took another step down, that stair loudly groaning and catching my brother's attention. 

He turned around, his eyes lighting up when he saw me. "Morning Mittens!" He chirped, turning back to his pan and giving it a little shake. 

"Ed? You're up early." I mumbled, making him laugh as he took his pan off the fire and poured what looked like to be eggs onto a plate. I continued down the rest of the stairs before moving over to the kitchen table. 

"Of course I am! After all, I've gotta practice what I'm gonna do later tonight." He winked at me, giving me a smirk before nodding towards his plate. "Want some?" I shook my head in response, making him shrug. "Suit yourself. But hey, you should get something to eat." 

"I will." I muttered, watching as he quickly threw open a drawer to grab a fork before starting to shovel the food into his mouth. He winced when he took the first bite, but he clearly tried to play it off. "Where's Em?" Edric held a hand up, quickly swallowing his bite. 

"Still up in her room. Didn't want to bother Viney." He said, stabbing his fork into another bite of food. I slowly nodded my head, slightly turning my gaze towards the stairs before sighing and moving to the pantry. "Though she should probably get up soon." 

"Yeah, she should." I said, grabbing a granola bar from its dwindling stock before tearing it open. "Do you have your outfit ready?" I asked my brother, who only nodded his head while he chewed another bite. 

"Sure do." He spoke with food in his mouth, slightly slurring his words. "And before you throw a fit, yes I'll make sure my hands aren't greasy or whatever before I touch it." I shot him a slight glare before rolling my eyes, listening to him laugh. 

"Does Emira?" I leaned against the counter, taking a bite of my breakfast. Edric let out another laugh, barely tapping his fork against his plate, creating an annoying 'tink' noise with each tap. 

"Oh she sure does." He laughed again, twirling his fork in his fingers for a moment before pointing it in my direction. "In fact, she was showcasing it off for Viney last night." He let out a little chuckle, then summoned his scroll. "Do you know how much blackmail I was able to get? It's insane." 

"How exactly is that blackmail against Em? Technically you would call it blackmail against Viney." I muttered, taking another bite of my breakfast. Edric shook his head, muttering something under his breath with a smile. 

"You're acting like the only photos I were able to get were of Viney gushing over Em's outfit. Nah, I've got some stuff that'd be golden to use against Em whenever I need to." He told me, finishing off his food and using magic to quickly clean his plate before putting it back. 

"Whatever you say." I muttered, also finishing off my food and throwing away the wrapper. "I'm gonna go wake her up, you get ready to leave." 

"Want me to change now or when we get to the studio?" Edric asked me while I was walking away. I turned back to face him, giving him a look. 

"When we get to the studio." I said, not hesitating at all. "Knowing you, you'd somehow get dirt on your outfit the moment we stepped outside." Edric's eyebrows furrowed together as he scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. 

"Do you really think I'm that clumsy?" He raised an eyebrow, giving me a half amused, half irritated smile. I shook my head, making my way to the stairs. 

"No, but I'm not taking any chances. These outfits have to stay presentable." I climbed up the staircase, my hand running against the wooden railing, then the wall as I quickly made my way to my sister's room. 

I walked up to the door, noticing it was cracked open. I waited for a second, then gave the door a few soft knocks before walking inside. Both Viney and Emira were still in bed fast asleep, Viney resting her head on Emira's shoulder, her arms wrapped around my sister's waist. 

Moving over to their bedside, I stared at the two of them for a moment, then turned my gaze to Viney. It was clear she was wearing some of my sister's clothes since they seemed a little big on her, and she was wearing one of Em's favorite shirts. 

I glanced over at my sister for a moment, then back to Viney, giving her a quick nudge. She was quick to open her eyes, blinking a few times before focusing on me. I brought a finger up to my lips, shushing her before she could ask any questions. "I'm gonna drag her out of bed, you wanna get up first or do you wanna be dragged with her?" 

Viney glanced at Emira for a moment then back at me. "I'll get up." She whispered in a husky voice, carefully trying to untangle her arms from my sister. Once she was able to free herself from my sister's grasp, she carefully slid off the bed and moved slightly behind me, rubbing both of her arms before shivering. 

"Alright Emira." I raised my voice to a normal level before grabbing her by the arm. "Get up!" She opened her eyes, then I started to drag her off the bed, making her yelp in surprise and desperately flail her free arm about to maintain her balance. 

"I'm up!" She frantically said, now hanging halfway off her bed. I let go of her arm, watching it fall limply to the floor. Emira's eyes moved from me, then to Viney, her eyes widening slightly. Behind me, I could hear Viney chuckle, making my sister's cheeks go pink. "Geez Mittens, couldn't have given me a nicer wake up call?" 

"Actually set an alarm next time then." I muttered, spinning on my heel getting ready to leave. "Also, we're changing at the studio, less risk of messing up the outfits before the show. Just get in something casual for now." Emira flipped herself over, then slid off the rest of her bed, lying on the floor for a second before picking herself up. 

"Whatever Mittens." She muttered, ruffling my hair as she walked to her door. "I'm gonna go get something to eat first. When are we leaving?" My sister glanced back at the two of us.

"In half an hour." Emira gave me a nod, then focused on Viney, motioning for her to follow my sister. The beastkeeper was quick to move, both of them making their way downstairs. I stood still for a moment, then shook my head before following after the two.

By the time I was downstairs, I saw Em digging through the pantry and Viney at the table, my brother nowhere in sight. Em poked her head out of the pantry. "Want a granola bar? Or I could make you some eggs or something." 

Viney gave her a nod, then Emira tossed the bar in her hand in her direction. The beastkeeper caught it, then tore it open and took a bite. "Thanks." She said, my sister giving her a nod before turning towards me. 

"You've already had breakfast right?" I nodded my head. "Great. Where's Ed?" I shrugged my shoulders, then there was a loud boom outside, making the three of us jump. Emira turned to the window, noticing the thick cloud of smoke that was billowing up from down below. The sight made me hold my breath, my ears going down. My sister moved to a different window in the kitchen and quickly opened it. "Ed!" 

"I'm alive!" He quickly called back up, making me sigh in relief. 

"What were you even doing?" Emira motioned to the smoke, her eyebrows furrowed together. I could hear the faint sound of Edric's nervous laughter. 

"Practicing for tonight!" I heard Emira sigh, watching as she shook her head. "Hey don't look at me like that! I didn't mean to! The spell slipped okay!" 

"Just don't get yourself killed. And clean up whatever you just blew up!" Emira closed the window and rubbed the bridge of her nose, muttering stuff about Edric under her breath. "Be glad you didn't put him in his outfit sis, he's covered in whatever he just blew to pieces." 

I heard the front door open, turning to see Edric in the doorway, his shirt and pants practically black from the explosion. His face, arms, and hair were also covered in a fair amount of the stuff, but he was giving us a nervous smile. "Be back! Gonna go clean this off." He quickly made his way to the stairs, then hesitated before reaching the top. "Also, no I didn't blow up part of the house." 

"So what did he blow up?" Viney asked once he disappeared, but Emira only shrugged. I leaned against the table, staring out the window. "Hey, you okay Amity?" 

"Huh? Yeah I am, why do you ask?" I turned to the beastkeeper, who only shrugged. 

"Just making sure. You're clutching your side pretty tight." I looked down, noticing how I had my hand clenched in a tight fist around part of my shirt around my side. Quickly letting go, I shook my hand a few times before folding my arms across my chest. 

"So Mittens..." Emira started, taking a bite of her food. "You gonna go to the studio like that?" She snickered, making me realize that I was still wearing my pajamas. I shook my head, then started to make my way to the stairs. 

I quickly made my way up to my room, passing by the bathroom where I saw Edric scrubbing his face with a rag. Closing my door behind me, I let out a slightly shaky sigh. I tried to not think too much about what happened downstairs and threw on a quick t-shirt and shorts before grabbing my outfit for tonight and making it to the door. 

But, before I left, I paused in the doorway and turned back around to glance around my room. My eyes quickly landed on the dark purple flower Luz had gotten me awhile ago, still looking as fresh as it did the day she gave it to me. An idea lit up in my head, and I quickly went over to my table and plucked the flower from its spot, staring at it for a moment with a gentle smile before carefully resting it on top of my outfit.

Now I left my room, watching as Edric poked his head out of his own room, glancing in my direction before his eyes landed on the outfit in my arms. "We're leaving already?" He asked me, leaning against his door frame. I shrugged. 

"Might as well." He smirked, then started to shake his head. 

"My, aren't you ahead of schedule today?" I chuckled, giving my brother a soft nudge. 

"C'mon, you know it's gonna be a struggle to pull Em away from her little beastkeeper." As if on cue, the both of them clambered up the stairs, chuckling and whispering before nearly slamming into me. "Speak of the devils themselves..." 

"What? We packing up already?" My sister rested her arm on my shoulder, reaching for my flower before I smacked her hand away. She chuckled, getting off of my shoulder before moving a little closer to Viney. 

"Yes we are. Get ready to go." I told her, but she only ruffled my hair and started to make her way to her room, the beastkeeper following close behind her. 

"Alright well, give us a few minutes, gonna help Viney gather up her stuff." I rolled my eyes, watching the two of them quickly disappear into Emira's room. Edric gave me a nudge before chuckling, his scroll already floating in front of him. 

"And that's my cue to get more dirt on our sister." He said, a sinister glint in his eyes. However, before he took a step forward, I placed an arm in front of him to keep him in place. 

"No, just grab your outfit and let's go downstairs." Edric sighed, slouching over before making his scroll disappear. He spun around on his heel, entering his room for a moment before quickly walking back out with a messy pile of clothes in his hand. I glanced down at his pile for a moment, then back up at him, slightly annoyed. 

However, he just ignored my look and started to make his way downstairs, mumbling something under his breath about his shirt. I followed after him, placing a gentle hand over top the purple flower so that it wouldn't fly off when I walked down the stairs. 

The two of us went back into the kitchen, not saying anything to one another as we took a seat at the table. Edric leaned back slightly in his chair, eyeing my outfit for a moment before smiling. "Adding the flower to your outfit?" He asked, and I nodded my head. 

"I'll see if it looks good with it at the studio." My brother hummed in response, loosely clasping his hands together before resting them on his chest. There was a bit of silence, then Edric started whistling a tune. 

A few minutes passed and there was still no sign of Emira or Viney. I let out an annoyed sigh, standing up from my chair and trudging towards the stairs. "She would've been down here sooner if you let me try to get more dirt on her!" Edric called after me, making me roll my eyes. 

I quickly climbed back up the steps and speed walked towards my sister's door, finding it cracked open. With a bit of hesitance, I peeked into her room, finding the two of them sitting on her bed too wrapped up in a kiss to notice I was there. Then, I watched as the beastkeeper brought a hand up to my sister's shoulder and Emira slowly starting to lay down. 

Clasping a hand over my mouth to stifle the squeak that rose in my throat, I moved and pressed my back against the wall by her door. "Emira!" I called, hearing a startled sound come from her room and stopping whatever was about to happen. "Come on! We've gotta go!" 

"Right! Uh, just give me a second!" She called back in a wavering tone, and I heard her mattress creaking followed by some shuffling. I took that as my cue to go back downstairs, running my hands through my hair. 

Edric turned around to face me when I got to the bottom of the stairs. He raised an eyebrow, his eyes darting up towards the stairs for a moment before back to me. "You definitely could've gotten more blackmail." I told him with a slight chuckle, making him shake his head. 

"And yet you stopped me." He said as Emira and Viney quickly made their way downstairs, Viney now in her clothes from last night and Emira in a red short sleeve shirt and dark jeans, both of them red in the face. "Took you guys long enough!" 

Viney let out a nervous laugh while my sister just rolled her eyes. "Wanted to show Viney something real quick. You two are really impatient." Edric let out a laugh, standing up and throwing his arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. 

"Of course Mittens is! This is a big show after all!" I pushed him away from me as he only shook his head. "Besides Em, I thought you'd be more excited. After all, it's not everyday that Mittens lets us rig a stadium with some of our best pranks." 

Emira rolled her eyes, but stopped when Viney gave her a nudge. "I'm gonna go, good luck at your guy's show!" She moved closer to my sister, whispering something in her ear that made her cheeks light up and turn a darker shade of red. Then, Viney smiled, gave Emira's arm a little squeeze before spinning on her heel and heading towards the door. "See you guys later!" 

I waved the beastkeeper goodbye while Edric laughed, moving over towards his twin and giving her a nudge. "What'd she say to you Em? Some sort of special good luck or something?" Edric teased, making a dopey grin appear on my sister's face. 

"Yeah." She squeaked out, nodding her head. I squinted at her for a minute, then raised an eyebrow. 

"Are you okay?" I asked her after a minute, watching as she continued to nod her head. 

"Yeah." She said again, in the exact same tone as the first time. Edric snorted, giving Emira a rough slap on the back to snap her out of her trance before grabbing his clothes off the table. Emira shook her head a few times, then turned to me. "We aren't doing anything after the show, right?" 

"Em, the show's running super late tonight." I picked my clothes up off the table and started to make my way towards the door, Emira quick to follow after me. 

"Just answer the question!" I turned to look at her, noticing the glint in her eyes. The three of us went outside, Edric closing the door behind us. "We, as a band, aren't doing anything after the show, right?" 

"Besides going home to sleep? No we aren't." Emira pumped her fist in the air, a big smile on her face. I smirked at her reaction, turning my attention to the trail ahead of us. "Let me guess, something to do with Viney?" I asked, not turning to see her reaction. 

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." Emira told me before Edric threw his arms around both of us, his clothes floating in the air behind him. I let out a yelp in surprise while he laughed, pulling the two of us closer to him. 

"It is about Viney." He whispered to me, making me chuckle before pushing him away. "So Em! Why don't we fill in our little sister about our pranking plans, hm?" Emira smirked at him, then nodded her head. 

The rest of our walk was filled with the twins describing their different ideas on how to rig the stadium, most of their ideas were enough to leave a mark, but not enough to severely injure someone. At most, they'd have an uncomfortable amount of glitter in their eyes if anything went wrong. 

By the time we made it to the studio they were only halfway through their plans, but they stopped filling me in when we made it to the door. The studio door was already unlocked, and when I pulled the door open I could hear Boscha and Skara's voices floating out from inside. 

"You think the bow tie would be too much?" I heard the three eyed witch ask, and walking into the main room I could see Skara walking around, observing her outfit. "Oh, hey guys! What'cha think?" 

There, Boscha stood in a white button up shirt with a maroon jacket put on over top, both ironed out so there were no wrinkles, nice dress pants that matched the color of her jacket and black shoes, her hair pulled up in the usual bun. She shoved her hands in the suit's pockets, giving me a smile.

I eyed her up and down for a moment, a small grin appearing on my face. "You clean up nice Boscha, the color really suits you." My sister said, moving over towards our bassist. "Though, your collar's crooked." 

Emira quickly adjusted her collar, then took a step back, smiling the entire time. "Thanks." She then turned to me and my brother, eyeing us up and down before chuckling. "You guys seem under prepared." 

"Mittens didn't want us to mess up our outfits." Edric ruffled my hair, then quickly darted towards the hallway before I could punch him in the shoulder. "Anyways, gonna go change!" I sighed as he disappeared down the hallway, making Boscha snicker.

"Boscha! You still want the bow tie or what?" Skara appeared by Boscha's side, holding a black bow tie in her hand. The bassist looked down at the bow tie, then back up at me, silently asking me what I think. 

"It'd really tie the outfit together with the gloves." She rolled her eyes, giving me a bit of a shove. "What?" 

"That pun was terrible." She snorted, making me smirk a little. 

"Hey, I learned from the best..." I shrugged. Boscha's expression faltered slightly when she heard my somber tone, but she quickly masked it.

"Alright, I'll wear it. I'm putting on the gloves later though." I gave her a nod, then she turned to Skara. "Mind helping me with that?" 

Skara gave the bassist a nod, then quickly started to help her put on the bow tie. Emira walked past me, giving me a small nod before she also disappeared around the corner. Our sound director pulled back from Boscha, squinting her eyes for a moment before fiddling with her bow tie a little. "There. That's not too tight, right?" Boscha shook her head. "Great! Oh, I need to go make sure we have everything, so I'll be back!" 

The two of us watched as she quickly went into the sound room, then came back out with a clipboard in her hand before she disappeared out the front door and into the spare storage. "Y'know, it's kinda weird having this much peppy attitude around the studio." She hesitated for a minute, then quickly added. "From the sound director that is." 

"Yeah it is. It's refreshing though." I said, glancing down at the pile of clothes in my hands before slowly making my way to my room. "I'm gonna go change." 

"Alright." Boscha moved over towards the table, going to take a seat before pausing. "Hey wait!" I paused in my tracks, turning back at the three eyed witch. "We still doing the thick eyeliner?" I smiled, then let out a chuckle. 

"We may be changing a lot of stuff for this show, but no way we're changing that." Boscha just nodded, then I disappeared down the hall, quickly moving to my room and pushing the door open. 

I placed my clothes on my desk, moving the flower to the side so it wouldn't be crushed. Then, I glanced at myself in the mirror for a moment, my gaze slowly going down to the photo in the corner of the mirror. The sight brought a smile to my face that I couldn't cover up. "She'd definitely like this outfit." 

Quickly pulling off my shirt and throwing it onto the cot before grabbing my white button up, pulling it on and buttoning it up. Then I put on my green dress pants, smoothing out a few wrinkles before putting on my brown boots that went just below my knees. I reached out for my coat, getting ready to put it on before there was a knock at my door. 

"Mittens you dressed?" I heard Edric ask from the other side of my door. "Can I come in?" 

"Yeah!" I called, pulling on my coat. My door opened, and Edric leaned against the door frame as he adjusted his tie. Turning to look at him, I groaned when I saw all the wrinkles in his jacket, which still wasn't buttoned up. Drawing a quick spell circle, he let out a soft sound of surprise as his jacket quickly lost the wrinkles. 

"Well geez Mittens, sorry my suit couldn't be perfect." He chuckled, but I only rolled my eyes and buttoned the small chain that held my coat closed around my waist before fixing my collar. "Though I will say, navy blue is my color." 

"You know you've gotta have that buttoned up for the show." I told him as I pulled my hair up into its usual half ponytail, making sure there was nothing out of place before I started on my eyeliner. He let out a sigh, softly shaking his head. 

"I know I do. Geez, sorry I don't want to die of heat before the show." He then paused, actually eyeing my outfit up and down for a moment before smiling. "Wait a minute, wasn't that the suit you were gonna wear to Grom?" 

"It was." I said, fiddling with my cuffs slightly. "But don't you remember how mom and dad threw a fit? They forced me to change." I muttered, reaching for the purple flower that laid on my desk. I looked at it for a moment, then carefully put in in the pocket by my chest. Spinning around to face my brother, I gave a nervous laugh. "How do I look?" 

"Amazing." He said, eyeing the flower for a moment before smiling. "The flower's a nice touch by the way." I chuckled slightly, nodding my head. "Though, if I'm being honest, I'm a little surprised that suit still fits you." 

"I fixed it a little." I said, ducking under his arm as he reached out to ruffle my hair as I passed him in the doorway. The two of us went out into the main room, finding our sound director at the table checking things off on a clipboard while our bassist was looking at her scroll. 

Boscha looked up at us, her eyes widening slightly before she let out a whistle, catching Skara's attention for a moment. "Looking sharp you two!" She told us, making us smile. Edric chuckled, moving over to the table to look over Skara's shoulder.

"So, we're just missing a few speakers, your guy's guitars, and your drums." Skara pointed her pen in Edric's direction before tapping it on the clipboard a couple of times. "Though, we can wait a few minutes before we load those up..." Edric hummed in response.

"So, where's the other chaos twin?" Boscha asked me, moving over by my side. I shrugged, but then I could hear the familiar click of boots coming from the hallway. We both looked over our shoulder, finding my sister, clad in an all black suit and tie that only had a hint of red because of a small flower attached to her tie, wearing a hint of dark purple eye shadow, standing in the hallway. 

Emira let out a chuckle, then moved over to the two of us, a smile on her face. "Look at us, dressing like we're in the mafia." Her joke made Boscha laugh, but I only rolled my eyes. "Remind me why you wanted us to wear suits again Mittens?" 

"Because," I started, catching Edric and Skara's attention. "when the stadium owner said we couldn't cancel our show, he planned his own funeral. We're just dressing for the occasion." My siblings both gave a sinister chuckle, and behind me I could hear Edric popping his knuckles. 

"Better question is, why are you wearing a suit Em? You aren't on stage." Boscha asked, but my sister only rolled her eyes, giving the bassist a playful shove. 

"I'm introducing the band, so Mittens said I had to suit up like you guys." Emira told her, pulling slightly at one of her white gloves. "So, what else did we need again Skara? Ed and I will finish packing it up." 

Skara went over her list again and both of my siblings went to grab the needed items. I nudged Bocsha, then motioned for her to follow me. "We'll be in the cart." I told one of my siblings as they passed, making them nod. 

The two of us went outside, then into the cart, moving to our usual seats. I leaned my head back, letting out a sigh. Boscha crossed her legs, pulling out her scroll and focusing her attention on that. There was silence for a few minutes, making me lightly bounce one of my legs up and down. 

Outside I could hear my siblings piling things into the cart, their voices too muffled to understand what they were saying. Then, the door to the cart opened and Skara walked in with a smile on her face, taking a seat by Boscha. 

Both of them were quick to strike up a conversation, talking about something on Pensta. I tuned the both of them out, staring at the ceiling out of boredom. The cart jolted forward, making Skara yelp in surprise. 

I started to slowly drum my fingers against my knee, going over song lyrics in my head. My ears twitched when I heard Boscha start to laugh, distracting me from my thoughts slightly.

"It's a show like any other." I thought to myself, feeling my ears slowly go down. 

"Amity?" 

"It's gonna be fine." My hand that was drumming on my leg slowly closed into a fist, capturing some of the fabric in my fist. "You're nerves are just shot. That's all." 

"Amity." 

"Just don't think about the obvious and you'll be fine." I closed my eyes when I felt my eyes sting, bouncing my leg up and down a little faster than before. 

"Amity!" My eyes snapped open and I lifted my head up to find Boscha and Skara staring at me. "You good over there? I've been trying to talk to you for a couple minutes now." 

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." I muttered, letting my hands relax before I ran them over the fabric covering my legs. "Just peachy..." I mumbled even softer than before. 

"Sure..." I could hear the hesitance in the bassist's voice, but I tried to ignore it. "But like I was saying, you sure you can get through this show?" Nodding my head, I turned my gaze down to my legs, not wanting to look Boscha in the eyes. 

Before she could say anything else, Skara let out a squeal, then nudged the bassist to show her something on her scroll, taking her attention off of me. I took in a shaky breath, then leaned my head back on the seat again. 

I eventually started talking with the two of them about halfway into the ride, sick of sitting in silence with my own thoughts. Our conversations weren't anything with much depth, but they were enough to keep us entertained. 

Finally, after an hour or so the cart slowed to the stop. From the front, there were a rough set of knocks from my siblings, telling us we were finally here. Boscha stood up and stretched, letting out a sigh. "My leg's numb." She muttered in an annoyed tone, slightly limping towards the door. 

The sound director and I got up as well, following after Boscha. By the time the three of us were outside, Edric and Emira were already taking stuff into the stadium. "You guys gonna stop dragging your feet and help or what?" I heard my brother say, making me roll my eyes. 

"Oh shut it Edric!" Boscha yelled back as she walked over to where they were unloading our equipment, making my brother laugh. Skara looked over at me for a moment, giving me a soft smile before she went after the pink haired witch. 

I stood in place for a moment, then quickly got in motion when Emira poked her head over the side to see what I was doing. She chuckled, then gave me a shove as I passed. "Your mind's gonna get snatched by a griffin one of these days if you keep letting it float to the clouds." 

"I was just running over lyrics." I told her as I picked up a few speakers, slowly making my way inside the stadium. Emira chuckled again, following not too far behind me. The sun was still hanging high in the sky, but it was slowly getting lower and lower.

"What? Afraid you're gonna forget them on stage or something?" I shook my head, adjusting my grip. 

"No. Just figured I'd roll through them again." I could hear her hum in response as the two of us slowly made our way to the stage. Emira and I placed the speakers in our hands by the pile of speakers Edric and Boscha had already brought in. "Oh, and Em? Tell me if you see the stadium owner here." 

She gave me a look, but then realization flashed across her face before she gave me a nod, knowing what I meant. Then, she shot me a quick salute and went back outside to grab more stuff to take inside. 

I went to follow after her, then paused before spinning on my heel and making my way backstage. "Em can get the rest. There's not much left anyways." I muttered, moving past one of the curtains. 

There, I saw Skara at the sound board, fiddling with a few of the dials. "Try it now Boscha!" She yelled, the bassist nodding in response. The three eyed witched tapped a mic in front of her, wincing at the amount of feedback.

Skara messed with a few more dials, then nodded at Boscha again. "Testing. One, two, three." The bassist then shot Skara a thumbs up, making her smile. 

"Oh, hey Amity!" Skara shot me a wave, making me send her a wave back. "You would not believe some of the settings on this thing! Honestly, Matt made it so much more complicated than he needed to." She laughed and I nodded in response. 

"That was Matt for ya..." I said, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Boscha was walking in our direction. She leaned on my shoulder, using me like an arm rest. "Do you have your bass tuned or what?" 

"Am, we've still got a couple of hours till the show. Chill out a little." I rolled my eyes, lightly shoving the witch away, who only laughed in response. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her black, finger less gloves and started to put them on. "Besides, once we get everything set up, we can just chill backstage for a bit." 

"I thought you were gonna help my siblings?" She furrowed her eyebrows together slightly while Skara just raised an eyebrow, confused on what we were talking about. 

"They're doing that before the show?" I nodded my head, making her sigh before rubbing the bridge of her nose, her ears twitching slightly. "Watch this backfire..." I could hear her mumble under her breath. "Fine, I'll go tune my bass now." 

The witch spun on her heel, then disappeared further backstage. Behind me, I could hear the sound of footsteps and my brother's voice, saying something about confetti before being cut off. "Stuff's out and ready to be put up!" Emira said, suddenly appearing by Skara's side. "Need help with the sound board or anything?"

"Nope!" The witch chirped making Emira smile in response. "Mics are already taken care of, we just gotta hook up the rest of the speakers and we'll be golden." Emira nodded her head, then something flashed in her eyes. 

"That actually reminds me, give both of us a hand." She motioned between Skara and I, making both of us raise an eyebrow. 

"Uh... why exactly?" I asked, hesitantly holding my hand back. They both rolled their eyes, then they both grabbed one of my hands, spell circles forming around each of my wrists. They did the same thing to Skara, who didn't say anything. 

"It's for protection you dork." Edric said with a smirk. "After all, I doubt you'd want to trigger one of our little 'gifts'." He put air quotes around his words, which I only nodded my head. 

"Now, where's Boscha? We need to do the same thing to her. Preferably before she sets something off." My sister said, and I pointed to where she walked off to, making my siblings smile. "Thanks Mittens. I'd normally ruffle your hair, but I guess you get to luck out this time."

"Guess so." I muttered, watching the two of them head off in Boscha's direction. Pulling put my scroll I glanced at the time, noticing there was only a little under an hour or so before the show. I turned to Skara, motioning towards the door. "If anyone asks, I'm out getting some air." She nodded her head, then made her way back to the sound board. 

I went back outside, shivering at the sudden breeze that decided to roll by. Glancing up at the sky, the sun was setting, meaning that the crowd would be coming soon. From a ways away, I could see the outline of a small group of witches, their voices slowly getting louder the closer they got. 

Paying them no mind, I turned my view back to the sky, trying to let my mind relax. But, being out here alone was starting to put me on edge. I couldn't explain why it did, but it sent a chill up my spine that mixed with the breeze. 

It almost felt like if I were to turn around, there'd be someone standing behind me. I shook my head a few times, trying to get rid of the thought. 

"Okay, so taking a breather outside is a no go." I muttered to myself, wrapping my arms around myself before making my way to the door. "It's just my nerves..." My ears twitched at the mixed sounds coming from the small amount of witches that waited by the ticket counter. 

Pushing open the door, I let out a shaky breath when the door loudly creaked. "Mittens!" Edric suddenly appeared from behind the door, making me scream. He winced in response, placing his hands over his ears. 

"Edric!" I shakily said, placing a hand over my racing heart, trying to put my ears back up, but I couldn't. "Don't... don't do that. Ever. You don't just go, creeping around in the dark like that!" 

"I'm sorry, but I've been looking for you for forever!" He hastily apologized, placing his hands on my shoulders. "But look uh, we may have a bit, just a smidge of a problem." He let out a nervous laugh, his eyes darting between me and something else backstage. 

"What did you do?" I asked him, pushing his hands off of my shoulders. He let out another nervous chuckle, then fidgeted with the cuffs of his jacket. 

"So, while Em and I were setting up our surprises, I may have accidentally knocked over my drums, and messed up the stage setup... just a bit. And uh, I don't exactly know how it's supposed to go, please come help me!" He said the last part really fast, which only made me give an annoyed sigh. 

"You didn't break your drums, right?" My brother shook his head, which lifted a bit of the weight off of my shoulders. "Great, that's one less thing to worry about." 

We both went on stage and quickly fixed the setup, placing everything in its correct spot. Then, once that was done, Edric thanked me and I went backstage, grabbing my guitar from Skara and starting to tune it, drowning out the rest of the noises around me. 

Halfway through my tuning, Emira appeared from around the corner, looking around before her eyes landed on me. "Oh hey Mittens, show's on in fifteen, you guys need to have that spell ready in ten." The fact the show was going to be on soon kind of surprised me, but I nodded my head, plucking the strings to my guitar. 

"The rest of the crew know?" Emira shook her head, making me shake my head. "Well then, better go fill them in." She gave me a small grin, then quickly disappeared towards a different part backstage. 

I let my guitar hang off of my shoulder, completely finished with the tuning. By now, I could fully hear the crowd that was outside the curtains, their voices all filled with excitement. That sent a pang of adrenaline flowing through my veins, my ears twitching slightly. 

Standing up and gripping the neck of my guitar, my ears perked up when I heard the sound of the rest of my band mates voices. Moving in their direction, I found the four of them gathered together, clearly nervous, but trying to get a few jokes in before the show started. 

Edric was the first to see me, his smile widening when he saw me walking closer. "And she finally emerges from the shadows! Thought for a second there I was gonna have to drag you out on stage like at the last show." 

"Oh ha ha." I laughed sarcastically, making him give me a nudge. "So what are we talking about?" I asked the four, which they all just shrugged in response. 

"Mostly just joking around, easing some of the tension y'know?" I nodded my head, my eyes moving towards the curtains that separated us from the crowd. 

"That, and I was making sure these two knew how to properly do the invisibility spell." I turned my gaze back to the rest of the band before I gave my sister a smile. "But, speaking of that spell, you guys should probably cast it now so it'll wear off in time." 

The three of us gave her a nod, then quickly moved to our places. Emira whispered something to Skara, who gave her a quick nod before heading in the direction of the sound board with a skip in her step. I moved over to my spot, watching out of the corner of my eye as Edric sat down behind his drums, then Boscha took her spot on the stage, her bass gripped tightly in her hands.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly drew out the spell with my finger. The pale blue, almost white circle quickly went around my wrist before traveling over my whole body, rendering me invisible. I glanced over at Edric, watching as he first cast the spell over his drums, then himself, and by the time I turned to see Boscha, she was already gone. 

Emira glanced at where we were standing, then slowly made her way to the the front of the stage, standing only a bit in front of me with a mic in her hand. She held her free hand out to her side, then snapped her fingers, the lights going off almost instantly. 

"It's showtime." 

The curtains opened, revealing the large crowd. It only took them a moment, but once they noticed the curtains opening, they started to get louder. The stage was practically pitch black, meaning they couldn't see a thing, but it didn't last long. 

A bright spotlight suddenly flicked on, quickly focusing in on my sister. There were a lot of gasps from the crowd at the sight of her in her suit, which were quickly followed by whistles and shouts. "Ladies, gentlemen, and beasts alike, how are we doing tonight?" She asked, standing up tall with a half lidded look. 

Instantly, the crowd broke out into an almost deafening roar, whistles, whoops, and calls ringing out from the crowd. Emira floated the mic in front of her, taking a moment to fiddle with her tie, the action seemingly making the crowd a little louder than before. 

"Honestly folks is that as loud as you can get? C'mon let me hear you!" She grabbed onto the mic again, breaking her stiff pose for only a moment. The roar from before seemed to double, making my ears pin themselves down in response. 

"That's more like it!" She laughed, returning to her stiff looking pose. She placed one arm behind her back, then slightly tilted her head down, staring out into the crowd. I could feel the spell wearing off at this point, meaning the show was about to begin. 

"Now, I would like to formally introduce you to The Abominations." 

Emira suddenly blew up in a giant puff of pale blue smoke, disappearing completely from the stage. The spell wore off and the spotlights flicked on, revealing Edric, Boscha and I. The crowd practically lost their minds at the sight of us, screaming so loud I almost thought they were going to lose their voices. 

I let them continue to cheer for a moment before grabbing the mic, noticing they got a little quieter. " Good evening everyone! Glad to hear you're all excited!" A loud set of whistles rippled to the front of the stage, bringing a smile to my face. "Now, how bout enough of the chitchat and we get this show started?" 

A collective cheer of agreement blew up from the crowd as I put the mic back in its stand, grabbing onto my guitar with both hands. The blinding white spotlights quickly changed to different hues of pink, purple and blue. 

Fog suddenly appeared at our feet, shifting colors every few seconds to match the spotlights. It slipped out into the crowd, hyping them up as we launched into Prom Night. Once the first few notes reached their ears, they went crazy. 

Their reaction brought a smile to my face as I started to sing, my ears perking up when I could hear them singing with me. The three of us quickly flowed through the song, earning a raving applause when we wrapped the song up. 

The three of us took a second to catch our breath, bright smiles on all of our faces. For a second, I was almost distracted enough to forget the whole reason why we were still doing this show. 

Almost. 

Once I caught my breath, I grabbed onto the mic again, pulling it closer to me. "I'm honestly a little worried here. Ya'll are gonna lose your voices before the end of the show." A few laughs echoed within the crowd. 

"Well, if they're gonna lose their voices, they might as well lose it to a band like this!" Boscha suddenly said, startling me slightly. "After all, it's not like there'd be any Blood in the Water, right Am?" The lights changed again, shifting from their cozy mix of soft colors to a sudden hard red. 

I could see the walls suddenly start to drip with a red liquid, making quite a few new fans in the crowd gasp in surprise. I glanced at my sister for a moment, noticing her peeking slightly from the wings, her face twisted up in a look of concentration. She had one spell circle drawn for the illusion on the walls, but she drew another one, making my throat tighten slightly. 

It didn't last long, but I knew the spell was complete. There was a reason we didn't do this song as often, and that was because of the slight voice change we had to do. But, it impressed the fans, making the song a lot more catchy. 

I was quick to start this song, almost instantly revving up the fans with its energy. With this song, Boscha was a bit more intense on the bass, which only added to the effect of the song. 

"Beg me for mercy, admit you were toxic." 

A smirk rose to my face when I could see the illusion that covered the walls now pool around their feet, slowly rising to the crowds knees. Some didn't notice, others did, but it didn't matter. That song went by almost as fast as the first, but instead of leaving me with a smile, it left me with a slight bad taste in my mouth. 

I couldn't explain it, but I swallowed down the feeling. I assumed it was from the spell wearing off and I didn't want to think it was because of anything else. 

I didn't want to think that it reminded me of anything else. 

But, when the flames blew up behind us to introduce our next song, I put on a smirk. I couldn't feel the tall flames dancing behind us, knowing they were only an illusion from my sister, however, I could see it light up the stage and quite a few rows in the crowd. It made a lot of them gasp in awe, their eyes glimmering in the fake flames light. 

The flames died down, but they still remained behind us as we started our next song, Play with Fire. And then, once that song was wrapped up, we played 505. 

By the time that song was done, I was almost completely out of breath. I turned slightly, looking over at my brother, who's shoulders were heaving up and down as he tried to catch his breath, and Boscha, who was struggling to hide how hard she was breathing. 

Taking a minute, I let go of my guitar and reached for the mic with a shaking hand. "Alright folks, stay in your spots!" I managed to say, making a collective murmur of questions bubble up from the crowd. "After a quick intermission, we'll have one last closing note." 

I put the mic back in its place, then the curtains closed. The crowd picked up in volume, but all their voices mixed together until it was just a jumble of noise. I could feel the sweat rolling down my face, which I quickly wiped away with my sleeve. 

Edric let out a loud groan, getting up from his set and stretching his legs. Skara and Emira quickly appeared from their spots, both of them holding drinks in their hands. "You guys are great!" Skara said, making a weak smile appear on my lips. 

"Thanks." I whispered, taking the drink from her hands and taking a sip. It made me feel more refreshed. I stood to the side while Boscha, Edric, and Skara struck up a small conversation, then I felt a hand on my shoulder gently pull me away. 

I glanced up at my sister, noting the look in her eyes. "Mittens..." She started, pulling me a little further away from the rest of the band before turning me around to face her. "Are you sure about this next effect? I mean, it's clearly not gonna be the most shocking out of all our effects, but I know you're doing this one for a specific reason." 

My throat tightened, remembering what song we were playing next. I struggled to push down my emotion, putting on a quick poker face. "Of course I'm sure. And I've already told you, the effect would just match the song." 

Emira shook her head, giving my shoulder a light squeeze. "It's not just because it works in the song. Mittens, I'm not stupid, I know this song has a deeper meaning to you." My eyes widened, but I showed no other emotion. 

"Hey! We've gotta get back on in five!" Edric called out, distracting Emira for a moment. 

"Got it!" She called back, then looked back down at me. "So, are you sure you want to do this?" She asked me, giving my shoulder another squeeze. I slowly nodded my head, turning my gaze down to the floor. 

"I'm sure." I took another sip of my drink, finishing off the last bit of the cup. Emira gently took the cup from my hand, and glancing up at her, I could see her hesitating. It wasn't hard to tell that she wanted to say something, but instead she only let out a sigh. 

"Well then, you guys better get on stage and knock their socks off with it then." She gave me a soft smile, but I could see something else hidden in her eyes. "You gonna keep staring or are you gonna go?" Emira chuckled as I jumped slightly. 

"Right! Right, finish the show." I said quickly, spinning on my heel and speed walking to my spot. My gaze stayed on the floor, and I noticed just how shaky my breathing was. With a trembling hand, I reached up and grabbed the mic, then motioned to Emira with my other hand to move the curtains. 

The curtains quickly parted, and once again my view was filled with the crowd in front of us. Once they saw us, they blew up in another fit of cheers and whistles. Normally, the sound would bring a smile to my face, but this time it only made my ears go down. 

"Alright folks, for tonight's show, we've got one last song." I said into the mic, making all of them quiet down. "This song's never been played on stage, so I say to all of you in the crowd tonight that you're lucky to be here." Another round of cheers and whistles rang out. I ran out of words, but after a couple of seconds I finally managed to ask. "Now, are you ready?" 

My voice was soft, probably not loud enough to hear over the crowd even with a mic. But, even so, the crowd exploded for what felt like the thousandth time in cheers and whistles, some of them screaming our names, hoping we'd hear them over the rest of the noise. 

I grabbed onto my guitar, but then hesitated. I was shaking and staring down at the floor, unable to look up at the crowd. The spotlights above us dimmed down, alternating between black and white light, casting out stage in an array of shadows. 

A few seconds passed, which dragged on a lot longer in my head, and at this point I knew Edric was staring at me. 

Then, taking a deep breath, I started to sing. 

"I'm heading straight for the floor." 

All three of us started playing our instruments, Boscha singing softly as my echo. Clearly, the slower tone of the song caught a lot of the crowd off guard. After all, we were known for not doing slow songs.

"The alcohol served its tour." 

"And it's headed straight for my skin, leaving me daft and dim." 

"I've got this shake in my legs." 

Both Boscha and I sung at the same time, her vocals almost blending in with mine as we paused on playing our instruments. However, in the brief pause, Edric lightly tapped his cymbals before we picked it back up. 

"Shaking the thoughts from my head." 

"But who put these waves in the door?" 

"I crack and out I pour." 

Edric's cymbal crashed behind us before we launched into our chorus. 

"I'm Mr. Loverman" 

"And I miss my lover, man." 

My ears were still slightly down from earlier, but I knew it would only be a matter of time until they were fully pinned down. I snuck a glance at the rest of the band, noticing how focused they both seemed. 

"I'm Mr. Loverman" 

"Oh, and I miss my lover." 

I made sure my voice held a bit more intensity with those lines, holding the tone for a little bit longer before letting my voice soften again. 

"The ways in which you talk to me have me wishin' I were gone." 

"The ways that you say my name have me runnin' on and on." 

I could hear my voice waver slightly at the last bit of that line, my head instantly filled with thoughts about Luz. It made my throat tighten, but I was quick to shove the thoughts away so that I could continue the song. 

"Oh I'm cramping up" 

"I'm cramping up" 

Both Boscha and I made sure to hold that note a little, then we fell silent again for a moment. 

"But you're cracking up" 

"You're cracking up" 

That note was higher than the last, the two of us holding it until we launched right back into the chorus again. 

"I'm Mr. Loverman" 

"And I miss my lover, man." 

"I'm Mr. Loverman" 

"Oh, and I miss my lover" 

I couldn't see any of the crowds faces, but I could tell by the sudden set of gasps that erupted form the crowd that Emira put her new special effect to work. I snuck another glance at the rest of the band, noticing the red, albeit fake, crimson liquid spilling from their lips and onto their suits. 

And that meant, the exact same thing was happening to me. 

"I'm shattered now, I'm spilling out upon this linoleum ground." 

Boscha picked up the background vocals, but I wasn't listening. All I could think about was how familiar that scene sounded to me. And I wondered for a moment, how familiar the scene would sound to Luz.

"I'm reeling in my brain again before it can get back to you." 

"Oh what am I supposed to do without you?" 

My voice was quickly crumbling as more memories came to mind, but I don't think the crowd noticed this time. All of our instruments besides Edric's died out, leaving me with just drums as my backup for a moment. 

"I'm Mr. Loverman" 

Now I knew the crowd could hear the waver in my voice. It wasn't hard to miss. I could see Boscha and Edric look at me before my vision blurred with hot, stinging tears that quickly rolled down my cheeks, smearing my eyeliner. 

I couldn't tell if they were because we were doing the song without Luz, or if it was because this song and all of its effects were reminding me of what happened to my favorite drummer.

"And I miss my lover, man" 

"I'm Mr. Loverman" 

"Oh and I miss my lover." 

I couldn't hide the hurt in my voice, at least, not very well anymore. Honestly I couldn't tell how the others weren't feeling the exact same way, then I realized it was because they didn't realize what this song meant. 

"I'm Mr. Loverman" 

"And I miss my lover, man" 

"I'm Mr. Loverman." 

It was the final high note, and I made sure to try and hold it without my voice wavering from my tears. 

"And I miss my lover." 

All our instruments died out as the final chord was struck, the illusion that dripped from our lips disappearing into the air, then there was silence. 

Then, the crowd lost it. 

A hiccup escaped me as I struggled to stop the tears from falling, my chest tight like someone had it wound up on a string. The crowd was cheering, screaming, and even though my vision was pretty blurry, I could see a few witches in the first few rows crying with me. 

I knew I had to say something to wrap up the show, but the words wouldn't come out. It was like my throat had closed off, leaving me unable to speak and barely able to breathe. I reached up with a shaky hand to pull at my tie, and that must've been Boscha's cue, cause she moved up to her mic and pulled it off of the stand. 

"And that beloved fans, is the end of tonight's show!" She called out to the crowd, and despite the fact she was close to me, her voice sounded so distant. I looked at her, focusing on her in an attempt to make her voice louder. "I assume you've all liked the new addition to the song roster, no?" 

Another loud round of whistles and claps came from the crowd, making the bassist smile grow even larger. Then, she put the mic back in place, giving everyone in the crowd a salute before the curtains closed. 

The second the curtains closed, I rushed backstage, taking off my guitar before I collapsed on one of the boxes there. My heart was practically pounding out of my chest and my hands were shaking. Honestly I'm surprised I didn't crumble on stage. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Boscha and Edric hurrying over, concern in their eyes. 

"Mittens? You alright?" Edric reached a hand out to rest on my shoulder, but I slapped his hand away. 

"Don't touch me." I muttered, keeping my gaze on the floor. "Just... give me a minute." The two looked at one another, then back at me, giving me a nod. 

"Alright, just give a shout if you need anything okay? We're gonna start packing up." I nodded my head, then wrapped my arms around me, struggling to take in a breath that wasn't shaky. My hand eventually trailed down to my side, rubbing circles on a spot for a moment before I pulled it away. 

"That's gonna make me feel worse..." I hissed at myself, placing both of my hands on the edge of the box. "In for four, hold for seven, out for eight." I muttered, trying to follow my advice. 

It took a couple of minutes, but my breathing finally became stable, no longer a shaky mess. And with that, I stood up, dusted myself off slightly, then went to help the rest of the band pack up our equipment. 

Well, they already had everything pretty much packed up. Edric was carrying the last bit of the speakers to the cart, Boscha and Skara already inside. "How ya feeling sis?" Emira asked me, which I just shrugged. 

"The spite show is over, you're guy's pranks are set, and honestly I can't tell if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders or not. So, I guess I feel okay?" I gave my sister a tired smile, which made her give me a soft smile. Then, she gave me a soft pat on the back. 

"Just get in the cart you dork." I nodded my head, rubbing my eyes as I slowly trudged off towards our cart. Opening the door, I heard Boscha and Skara happily talking about the show and how it went. 

"Hey there singer!" Boscha greeted me, to which I gave a halfhearted wave. "Am, fans are losing it over that new song. It's crazy." I nodded my head, flopping down onto my seat. 

"I mean, who wouldn't lose it over that song?" Skara asked, making the three eyed witch shrug. "And hey, the emotion you put into that song had me teary eyed, so I can only imagine how hard some of the fans were crying." 

"Yeah." I said, my eyes fluttering for a moment. The cart lurched forward, making the three of us sway. "I told you I could get through that show." I looked at the three eyed witch, who only rolled her eyes. 

"And you nearly lost it on stage. I could see you shaking the entire time you know." I only hummed in response, which made her sigh. "Seriously though Am, don't do something like that again." 

"Whatever." I mumbled, leaning my head back on the seat. "Hey guys? Let me know when we get to the studio. I'm gonna nap." I said, earning a hum from the other two witches. 

My eyes slowly closed, then when I opened them again, I found I was in my bed. Sitting up, I groggily looked around, a little confused on how I got hear. Then, from outside my door, I could hear my siblings voices. 

"Think we should've waken her up to change into something more comfortable?" I heard Emira asked, but Edric only scoffed in response. 

"Nah, let her sleep. That was a taxing show for her. Besides, it's one night, it won't kill her." 

"True. But now, we need to make sure she takes it easy. And we should probably figure out the real meaning to that song." They went quiet for a moment. 

"I bet I could tell you who's it about." Edric finally said, his voice soft enough that I almost missed it. 

"Yeah, me too." Emira responded back in the exact same tone. "Hey, I'm gonna go out, probably won't be back tonight. Think you can manage?" Edric laughed, probably punching my sister in the arm. 

"You act like I'm five. Of course I can manage." Then, I could hear their footsteps walking away from my door, moving down the hallway before fading completely. 

I swung my legs to the side of the bed, taking a deep breath before hopping off. Quickly undoing buttons and taking off my suit, I threw on a quick baggy shirt and shorts before climbing back into bed, running my hand through my hair. 

I shoved one of my hands under my pillow, then closed my eyes, thinking about how I didn't get the chance to chew out a manager before deciding to block out almost all of my thoughts about anything except a specific flannel wearing human before drifting off to sleep. 

The spite show was over, and now it was time to relax.


	24. She's out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH BOY
> 
> Okay, I just want to apologize for updates slowing down. School work's been piling up, and I don't want to get in trouble so I've been paying more attention to that rather than this story lmao
> 
> Anyways, hope you guys enjoy!

Amity POV: 

I woke up around noon, thanks to my siblings disabling my alarm. They left a little note scrawled out in messy writing on top of it, saying that I needed the rest. With a low groan, I crumpled up the little paper before lighting it up in a small ball of purple fire. 

"Jerks." I mumbled, getting out of bed and rubbing my eyes. I didn't want to admit it, but they were right about how I needed the sleep. Not bothering to change out of my pajamas, I walked across the cold wood floor to make my way downstairs. 

"Ed? Em? What are you two doing?" I called out, receiving no response. "So help me gods if you're rigging the couch again I will leave you stuck in abomination goop for a few of hours!" Peering down into the kitchen, I spotted another little note resting on the kitchen table. 

Quickly making my way down the steps, I picked up the tiny note from the table. This one was written in much neater handwriting than the last, making it a lot easier to read. "Out for the day, tell Luz we say hi when you drop by!" 

I gently rubbed the note between my fingers for a moment, deciding not to burn this one. Instead, I just set it back down on the table, then turning on my heel I started to make my way back upstairs. 

"So, I get this place to myself?" I asked aloud, resting my hand against the handrail. "Dunno if I should be happy about that or not..." Making my way back up to my room, I closed the door behind me with a click. 

Glancing around the room, my eyes caught onto my suit from last night, which I had just haphazardly threw on the floor after I changed. Sighing, I moved over to the piles and bent down to pick them up, quickly folding them. 

While going to hang up the coat, I noticed how there wasn't a trace of the purple flower and that sent a sharp jab of worry to stab through my chest. My eyes darted across the floor, wondering if it had just dropped from the pocket. 

"I didn't lose it, did I?" I could hear the slight panic that was rising in my voice when I couldn't see it on the floor. Wracking my memory, I knew that I was still wearing it when we got in the cart to go back to the studio after the show.

Moving to set the coat down on my bed, my eyes glanced up for a moment, then I let out a sigh of relief. There, with the stem carefully tucked behind my headboard, was the flower. "Oh... oh." A fit of nervous chuckles bubbled up as I quickly grabbed the flower from its spot. 

Running my fingers along the stem, I let out another sigh when I felt no dents on it from the headboard. Moving over to my table, I gently laid the flower in its usual spot. Then, spinning back around, I finished hanging up the suit and put it back in my closet. 

"Glad I finally got to wear that." I said, summoning my scroll to check the time. It was just a little before one. "I'll go visit Luz in an hour or so..." I mumbled as I rolled over the thought in my head, knowing that Eda was usually there with Luz around this time. 

A part of me wanted to go to see Luz now, after the incident with the creep and then Matt, I just wanted to make sure she was safe. But, I held back on that part, after all, if Eda was there, Luz would be fine. 

Slowly moving over towards my bed, I pressed a few buttons on my scroll before opening Pensta, curious if anything was new. Instantly, my feed was flooded with a mix of posts from last nights show, videos of our singing, and the occasional picture of Boscha from her account. I flopped down onto my bed with a soft chuckle, shaking my head slightly.

I scrolled through a few of the posts, half a smile on my face. A lot of the posts were talking about the new song, questioning the sudden change of tempo. Mindlessly scrolling though the posts for a bit, I got bored after the first couple of minutes. 

With a low groan, I shut off my scroll and made it disappear, sitting in silence for a moment. 

The silence wasn't comforting. 

I started to drum my fingers against my pillow, shakily humming a tune under my breath. "Nobody else is around..." I said aloud, but I couldn't tell if I said it to ease my rising nerves, or if my mind just wanted another way to fill the silence.

Flipping over on my back, I stared at the ceiling for a moment, drumming my fingers against my stomach before sitting up. "Y'know what? Time to find a distraction." I looked around my room, my eyes landing on my shelves lined with books. "Perfect." 

Standing up and moving over to the shelves, I quickly glanced over some of the titles. None of them were really catching my attention, until finally my eyes landed on a familiar title. "The sixth Azura book? I thought I left this at the hideout..." I picked it up, a soft smile finding its way to my face as I stared at the cover. 

Tearing my gaze away from the book for a moment, I looked up at my door, then back down to the item in my hands. "But since I'm home alone..." I slowly made my way to my door, making sure it was shut tight. "And nobody would hear me..." The smile on my face slowly got larger as I moved over to my bed, laying down on my stomach before cracking the book open. "I can read this and do the voices!" 

My bookmark fluttered out of place, falling down flat on my bed. Just by glancing at the first few words at the top of the page, I already knew I was at my favorite part of the book. With a low squeal, I quickly started to read. 

"Hecate jumped in between the black sludge monster and Azura, her skirt flowing with the breeze as she held her arms out to protect the green haired witch." I started, feeling my ears softly start to flap. 

"Stay away from her!" I put on my Hecate voice, tightly gripping the book in my hands. "The monster only let out a low growl before snatching the orange haired witch off of the ground, dangling her in the air in front of Azura."

"The orange haired witch glanced back at Azura, noticing the look of surprise on her face." I sat up in bed, lightly clearing my throat so that I could do my Hecate voice again. 

"'I'm sorry, Azura!' The orange haired witch cried out, glancing back at her friend in an attempt to take her focus off the creature's eyes that were boring into her." I was starting to get into the acting now, standing up and holding the book slightly away from my body, putting on the voice again. "I should've fought my own battle!" 

This part of the story always seemed to create a tight feeling in my chest, always making me hold my breath no matter how many times I read it. "The monster's eyes lit up a bright, pale blue as it slowly started lifting the orange haired witch higher." 

"'I-' Hecate was cut off as her eyes flickered to the same blue as the monster before she fell limp in its grasp." 

"Hecate no! Your..." My voice trailed off halfway through Azura's line, realizing just how scratchy my voice was for Azura. I let out a laugh, though it felt more bitter than carefree. 

"That's why Luz voices Azura..." I muttered, feeling my ears slowly pin themselves down. My mind flickered with memories of our book club, making a lump form in my throat. But, before I could think about it any further, there was a sudden thud on my window. 

The sound made me yelp, nearly throwing the book out of my hands. I didn't dare make a sound, wondering if maybe I had just imagined the sound. Then it happened again, making me hold my breath. 

I didn't take my eyes off the window as I slowly moved back to my bed to set the book down, then I slowly stepped over to the window. I made sure to avoid all the squeaky floor boards, flinching when the sound happened again. 

Bringing a shaking hand up, I slowly drew out a spell circle as I got closer, trying to keep my hand steady enough so I would be able to complete it. I reached my other hand out towards the curtain, tightly gripping it in my hand. 

Taking in a shaky breath, I pulled back the curtain, my mind assuming the worst. 

But, after pulling back the curtain, I was met with Eda's tiny palisman, running his head into my window to make a sound. His golden eyes met with mine, lighting up when he realized he had my attention. 

Wiping away my spell, I quickly unlatched my window and pushed it open, allowing the owl to come inside. "Hey there buddy." I said as I took a seat on my window sill, my voice shaking slightly. The tiny owl hopped over to me, looking up at me before hopping up onto my knee. 

Hesitantly reaching my hand out, his big eyes followed my hand until I gently rested it on top of his head. He nuzzled into my touch, letting out a soft set of hoots. "What are you doing here?" I asked, then I noticed the note he held in his foot. 

Still lightly scratching the owl's head, I reached down with my other hand and took the letter from him, struggling to unfold it with only one hand. Once I managed to get most of it unfolded, I gave it a quick shake, then started to read it over. Instantly I was met with Eda's messy handwriting, luckily still legible enough for me to read. 

"Hey kiddo, need you to head down to the owl house ASAP. If you can't make it, send Owlbert back with a note. I'm not gonna explain it all on here, but it's about Luz - Eda" 

The last part of her letter made me tense, wondering what happened to Luz. I looked back down at the owl, who stared up at me with his bright eyes. Then, in a swift movement, I carefully scooped up the palismen, threw on a pair of shoes and quickly made my way downstairs. 

My footsteps echoed off the walls as I quickly made my way to the front door. Right when I was about to open it, I paused. Owlbert let out a curious hoot, flapping his wings so that he could fly in front of me. 

I quickly spun back around and went into the kitchen, summoning myself a small piece of paper and a pen. "At the owl house." I mutter aloud as I wrote it down, then set the paper down on the kitchen table. "There... so they don't think I disappeared." 

Going back to the front door, I quickly pulled it open and waited for the small owl to fly out the door before closing it behind me. The owl flew a quick circle around my head, then landed on my shoulder, making my ear twitch when he let out a soft hoot. 

Speed walking in the direction of the owl house, I couldn't help but fidget my hands as my mind raced. "Nothing bad happened to Luz, right?" I asked aloud, turning to face Owlbert. He hooted in response, making me groan. Even though my mind was assuming the worst, I tried to keep the thoughts quiet. I knew if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to make it to the owl house.

Once the two of us made it to the forest line, the tiny palisman decided he was done perching on my shoulder and wanted to fly ahead of me, making me pick up my pace. He wasn't going much faster than we were before, which made it easy to keep up.

By the time the owl house came into view, I was lightly panting. Owlbert let out a hoot and finally slowed down, circling around above me before landing on the top of my head. "Really?" He didn't make a sound, instead, he just spun around in a circle before getting comfortable, making me roll my eyes. 

I started jogging to the door, a little surprised that the owl on my head didn't move or fly off. When I was a little ways away, I noticed how the other owl perked up. "Look who it is hoot hoot!" Hooty greeted in that obnoxious tone. 

"Now's not the time." I rasped out, trying to catch my breath. "Let me in." I held my hands down to my sides, balling them into loose fists. The door owl spun in circles, closing his eyes. 

"Sorry, but Eda told me not to let anyone in." A growl rose up from my throat as I glared at the tube owl, who only opened one eye to look at me. "You can go away now."

"Hooty, I am not dealing with your stupidity right now." I told him, reaching for the door handle. He instantly stretched out, blocking my hand with his body. I gritted my teeth together, digging my nails into my palm. "Let. Me. In." 

"Eda said no one's aloud!" Hooty said, stretching up so that he was close to my face. I let out a loud groan of frustration, reaching up to wrap my hands around him to strangle him only to clench them in tight fists again. 

"She's the one who sent me here!" I yelled, my voice holding an exasperated tone. "I have her palisman on my head for gods sake!" The door owl stretched up slightly, humming for a moment before he moved back down to my level. 

"Looks like a fake to me, hoot hoot." He said, dragging out his words as he twirled into a corkscrew. I could feel my face flushing red in anger, my ears pinned down as far as they could go. 

"So help me... I won't hesitate to rip you out of the door!" Hooty laughed, the sound making my ears twitch at how annoying it was. He twisted out of his corkscrew and moved a little closer to my face, his brown eyes giving me a blank stare. 

"You won't be able to because I don't have an end!" He twisted into another corkscrew, this time moving slowly. "No one's been able to prove if I do or not, so that means I just stretch forever!" 

Before I was able to retort that I would make him end, the door flew open, making the door owl yelp. "What in the Isles name are you talking to? Another bug?" Eda furrowed her eyebrows at her door, clutching her staff in one hand while she rested the other on the door. 

"No! Just her!" Hooty chirped, making Eda look in my direction, her eyes widening slightly before letting out a huff directed at the tube owl. 

"Why didn't you let her in?" The owl lady asked in a snarky tone, snapping her fingers. Instantly, I felt Owlbert shift before the small weight was lifted off of my head. He flew over to the staff and took his place at the top, transforming back into wood. 

"You told me not to let anyone in remember?" Hooty stretched away from the door before wrapping around me. "You told me to keep on a lookout, so that meant not to let anyone in, hoot hoot." Eda rolled her eyes, then grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me inside. 

Before Hooty could say anything, Eda whacked the middle of his body with her staff, making him retreat back into the door before she slammed it closed. "And that reminds me on why I think he's a thorn in my side." I heard her mutter. 

I turned my gaze from the owl lady for a moment, glancing around the living room of the owl house until my gaze landed on the couch. My eyes widened when I saw a familiar figure lying on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. 

Luz let out a soft giggle, raising her arm above her head to let it hang off of the arm of the couch. "Look at me, I'm the king of New York~" She said in a singsong tone before giggling again, barely able to mumble a string of words that sounded like lyrics. I furrowed my eyebrows together, then turned back to Eda.

"What's going on?" I asked, not bothering to hide the bit of frantic tone in my voice. Eda blinked in confusion, her eyes darting over to Luz for a moment before letting out a snort and softly shaking her head. 

"Right right, didn't fill you in. Sorry kid, shouldn't have scared you like that but I figured that'd get you down here faster." She laughed again before eyeing me up and down, smirking. "Nice outfit by the way." She gestured to my clothes, reminding me I was still in my pajamas.

"That doesn't answer the question." I said stiffly, turning my gaze back over to Luz. She was still staring up at the ceiling, almost as if she didn't know we were there. Eda clicked her tongue, lightly tapping one of her fingers against her staff. 

"Well, I wanted you down here cause Luz is out... in more ways than one." Luz seemed to perk up at the sound of her name, turning her head in our direction. Her eyes were glazed over, but they lit up at the sight of the two of us. 

"Pretty witch..." I could hear her say with a smile, making my cheeks flush pink. She started to roll over on her side, making Eda quickly tap her staff and activate Owlbert. The tiny owl quickly flew over to Luz, pulling on her shirt to keep her on her back. 

"You are not ruining your stitches or whatever they did to you on the first day you get back." Eda told Luz, who probably didn't hear a word she said because she was too distracted by the palisman, the tiny owl now nuzzling against her cheek. "Yeesh, let's hope this wears off quickly." 

Luz continued to babble, moving one of her hands around in circles while the other drummed her fingers on her good side. "So, is she okay?" I asked softly, once again making the owl lady snort. 

"About as okay as she's gonna be." Eda gave her staff a light tap, calling Owlbert back over to her. The palisman carefully hopped up to the arm of the couch, then flew over and landed on top of her staff. "Kid's gonna be up in the clouds for a few hours." 

"She's loopy?" Eda did a half and half symbol with her free hand, her ears twitching slightly. 

"Not as bad as before. Healers said it was 'mandatory' to numb her up before sending her off, which is why I needed you." Luz struggled to sit up a little, turning to look over in our direction. "Luz stay down." 

"Loopy would be the word to describe you." Luz pointed in my direction, then chuckled. "And Owlbert when he's in the air, hey can we go do loops on the staff?" 

Eda let out a snort, rolling her eyes. "Not now." Luz put on a pout, then laid back down, staring at the ceiling. "Anyways, back to business." Eda turned to face me, her eyes lingering on Luz for a moment. 

"So what exactly did you need me for?" I asked, not looking at the witch. Instead, my gaze remained focused on Luz, watching as she stuck out her tongue and laughed. 

"Well besides the fact that I figured you want to see her now that she was out, I need you to keep an eye on her." The silver haired witch popped her neck before running a hand through her hair. 

"Ah. Makes sense." I folded my arms over my chest, my ears twitching when I heard footsteps behind me. Resisting the urge to turn around, I watched as King came into view, doing circles around Eda's feet for a moment before standing up on two legs. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his eyes slanting downward slightly. Eda bent down and picked up the little demon, who surprisingly didn't squirm in her grasp. 

"She's here to keep an eye on Luz-" Eda started, only to be quickly cut off. 

"I don't need a babysitter!" Luz suddenly said and she pointed a finger up to the ceiling, making me furrow my eyebrows. Then, I could hear her mumble something else, but her voice was too soft for me to understand what she was saying. 

"Right..." Eda said, slightly dragging out the word as she gave Luz a look questioning what she meant before turning her attention back to me and King. "Anyways, she's here since I have to go back to the stand and can't leave you alone with Luz, and her other two dork friends are still in class at Hexside." I could see Eda shudder at the mention of the school, her ears twitching. 

King's eyes slanted down even further, shooting the witch a glare. "And what about the other green haired ones?" He asked, his voice holding a bit of offence at her previous statement. 

"Because as much as I love those two, leaving those two here alone would only leave me with a mess to clean." She then flicked the middle of King's skull, making him squirm as he let out a little sound. "And by me, I mean you." 

"Hey! The King of demons could manage just fine!" The demon pointed a finger in the air, only making the two of us chuckle. I could hear Luz start to chuckle as well, once again trying to turn on her side. 

"You're a cute baby." She told King, making a high pitched squeal start to rise from his throat. Eda tapped him on the back with her foot, getting him to be quiet. 

"Alright you little teakettle, as much as I find that sound hilarious, you can stop." King glared at the witch again, then trotted off into a different room, mumbling something under his breath as he left. "Let's hope you know how to handle Luz kid, cause she's about two times as dorky as usual." 

"Fine by me." I muttered under my breath, feeling my ears go down as my face slowly burned pink. Eda let out a barking laugh, then ruffled my hair, making me groan. 

"I'll be back in a few hours." Eda said over her shoulder, moving over before pulling the door open. Hooty's dark eyes lit up at the sight of the silver haired witch. 

"Hoot! Hey there!" He started, but Eda placed a hand over his face before he could get out another word, Hooty only able to make a muffled sound of surprise. 

"Now, normally I wouldn't say this, but you two keep it PG here. I don't want to come back to you two making out on the couch or whatever." Her statement nearly made me choke, my face flushing a darker shade. 

Eda snorted, which quickly turned into a groan as she pulled her hand away from the door owl, finding her hand wet with saliva. With a look of disgust, she quickly wiped her hand on her dress, then gave me a short wave goodbye before closing the door behind her. 

I stood frozen in place for a few moments, trying to stifle the burning feeling that remained stuck on my face. Shaking my head a few times, I turned my gaze over to Luz, who was now fiddling with the fabric of her shirt. 

Moving closer to the couch, I could see the design on Luz's baggy t-shirt, looking like a handmade Azura shirt. The sight made me smile, a low chuckle rising from my throat. The sound caught Luz's attention, her gaze landing on me. 

"Ammy!" She exclaimed excitedly, bringing her arms down to her sides in an effort to push herself up. I quickly moved over to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I missed you!" Her voice held the same amount of excitement as before as she completely ignored me trying to stop her. 

She somehow successfully managed to sit up and position herself so that she was leaning halfway on the arm of the chair and halfway on the back of it, then patted the seat next to her. "I missed you too, how you feeling?" I asked, slowly sitting down on the couch, noticing how squishy it was. 

"Better now that you're here." She chuckled, bring her hands up to my ears to mimic mine as they went down. I rolled my eyes, smiling at the sound of her laughter. 

"Eda wasn't wrong when she said you're dorkier than usual." I chuckled, watching as Luz leaned her head on the back of the couch, a dopey smile plastered on her face. 

"The big silver owl is never wrong about her owlet!" She said, nearly falling forward. I quickly placed both hands on her shoulders, giving them a squeeze as I held her in place. "Woah, look at you being all speedy." 

"Didn't want to let you fall." I muttered, hesitantly moving my hands away. Luz chuckled, then brought both of her hands up to my face cupping my cheeks. I let out a soft squeak, nearly pulling away at the contact. 

Luz let out a little laugh, her fingertips barely scratching the space between the bottom of my ears and my jawline. "Ammy look, I can hold the world in my hands!" She chuckled again, making a red blush rise up to my cheeks. "Just a pretty witch kitty." 

I didn't dare try and move away, but at the same time I worried that she'd try to make me purr. "Uh...Luz?" I started, and she moved one of her hands away, leaving the other on the side of my face. Slowly, her thumb started stroking my cheek. "What are you doing?" 

"Your face is soft..." She mumbled, just barely loud enough for me to hear her. She let out another one of her loopy giggles, her hand slowly trailing down from my face to my neck, then my shoulder, sending shivers down my spine even though her hand was leaving hot trails wherever they touched. "You're really pretty Ammy." Luz said after a moment, her voice even softer than before. 

Her hand trailed down from my shoulder towards my upper arm, giving it a light squeeze. She brought her free hand up to mimic the other's actions, making my breathing speed up. "Luz?" I asked again in a high voice, feeling my throat start to tighten. 

Then, I noticed Luz was starting to lean in. 

My brain seemed to fizzle out, overriding into panic mode. But instead of trying to wrack my brain for what to do, I started to follow what she was doing. We were slowly getting closer, I could feel my hands shaking and my ears flapping, but I ignored that, instead, I just focused with half lidded eyes on the girl in front of me. 

We weren't far apart now, maybe an inch away from each other's lips

But, right when it was about to happen, the door swung open. 

"Mittens!" Both my siblings called out, making me yelp loudly in surprise and pull away from Luz, nearly falling off the couch. I knew my face was bright red, but I struggled to push it down. 

"What do you two want?" I asked, struggling to cover up my shaky voice with a cold tone. Both my siblings laughed, moving over towards the couch. 

"Found your note at home and figured we'd see what you're doing." Edric said, leaning down slightly as he placed a hand under his chin in its signature pose. "And now we know why!" 

"Geez Mittens, you didn't think to fill Ed and I in that Luz was out?" Luz suddenly perked up at Edric's name, her face lighting up as she snapped her fingers. 

"Edric that reminds me!" She said, reaching out towards my brother. He raised an eyebrow, watching as Luz leaned back onto the couch. "You're nickname reminds me of a show on Earth! Except you don't act like Ed, you act more like Eddy..." She mumbled the last part, my brother softly nodding his head before leaning towards me and Emira. 

"Luz is acting weird." He whispered while Luz continued to ramble on, making my sister nod. 

"Weirder than usual." Emira added, only making me sigh in response. 

"It's just from the healers. I assume some kind of numbing potion or anesthesia. She's loopy." Both of my siblings tensed up a little, eyeing one another before looking back at me. 

"So you're here, with her, alone? While she's loopy?" Emira asked, only making me roll my eyes in response. 

"Is that why you want to be alone with her Mittens?" Edric asking in a teasing tone, making a low growl rise up from my throat. 

"Edric, keep pushing my buttons and I won't hesitate to push you down the next flight of stairs." I threatened, watching his eyes widen slightly in alarm. He let out a nervous laugh, then gave Emira a quick nudge, motioning towards the door. 

"Well alright sis, you two have fun." Emira said as she moved over towards Luz, carefully ruffling her hair and making her laugh. "You make sure to be careful, okay? Give us a call when you aren't as loopy." Emira chuckled. 

Luz snapped her a quick set of finger guns, shooting my sister a wink. "See you around then cutie!" She told my sister, using the nickname that Emira would always use on her. 

I could see a smirk rising on my sister's lips as she shook her head, ruffling Luz's hair again. "Bye guys!" They called over their shoulders, opening the front door, which surprisingly didn't make any noise until after they closed it, Hooty's muffled voice piping up as he tried to talk to my siblings. 

Once I was sure they were gone, I let out a sigh in relief. Luz started to lean forward again, and I quickly reached out to stop her from falling. She let out a low whine, then moved my hands away, moving to lean her head to my shoulder. 

"What are you doing?" I managed to ask, trying not to stammer. Luz only hummed in response, carefully managing to scoot closer to me. 

"You're comfortable." She mumbled, moving her head towards the crook of my neck. I could feel myself tense up at her movements, not wanting to move and hurt her. 

"Luz..." I started, my voice suddenly barely louder than a whisper. She didn't say anything in response, rather she just laid a little more weight on my body. With a low sigh, I gave her shoulder a tap, knowing there was no point in trying to argue. "Luz. Readjust real quick, that can't be comfortable. Besides, one wrong move and you'll be leaning on your bad side." 

"I can make it work. I don't feel a thing." She mumbled, sounding a lot more tired than before. Rolling my eyes, I carefully placed a hand on her shoulder, then moved her so that she would be leaning on my other shoulder, halfway on my lap. 

The drummer let out a content sigh in response, her hot breath barely hitting my neck and sending shivers down my spine. "Comfortable?" I asked, my voice still quiet. Somehow that managed to mask how shaky my voice should have been. 

Luz gave half a nod, then I slowly leaned back until my back hit the couch, making my position a lot more comfortable. The drummer let out a little hum, nuzzling a little closer to me. I sat there, a little stiff at first before I slowly let myself relax. 

Mulling it over in my head for a minute, I slowly brought one of my arms up around her shoulders, the other resting on her knee, where I started rubbing soft circles. 

The two of us didn't say anything, just relaxing in the comfortable silence together. "Luz?" I finally asked after a bit, getting no reaction. A small pang of worry struck my chest, but I quickly shook it away when I heard Luz's even breathing, telling me she was asleep. 

I let out another low sigh, slowly resting my head on top of her's and closing my eyes, feeling the warmth of her body and letting my mind relax. I must've dozed off, then jolted back awake when I felt Luz shifting in my grasp. 

Blinking a few times, I glanced out the window, noticing the sky seemed more orange than before. "What time is it?" I croaked out, tensing up when Luz shifted again. 

She stretched out her arms before going limp again, nuzzling closer to my neck and letting out a soft squeak like sound. I could feel my cheeks flush at the sound she made, my ears flapping softly. 

"Your heart rate's speeding up." Luz suddenly murmured, startling me. I blinked a few times, noticing her voice sounded clearer than it did before. 

"How you feeling now?" I asked her, gently starting to run my fingers through her hair. Luz let out a sigh, wrapping her arms around my waist. 

"Sore. My side's throbbing." I could hear the hint of misery in her husky voice, making me wince. "These bandages are itchy too." She chuckled a little bit, but it didn't last long. 

"I'm sorry." I muttered, hesitating before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I know that's probably not gonna help, but maybe it'll take your mind off of it for a minute or something." I quickly said, my voice holding a slightly nervous tone. 

I could see Luz's lips were curved up into a smile as she closed her eyes again. "Nah, it helps a ton." There was a bit more pep in her tone this time, which made a smile appear on my face as well. 

Then, there was a sudden loud crash that came from the other room, something going off with a loud pop, making me jump and making Luz flinch. I could feel her tense up in my grasp, suddenly holding her breath. 

"King?" I called, waiting for an answer. There wasn't one, and I considered calling for the tiny demon again. "I'm gonna go check that out." I said, but I could feel Luz squeeze me a little tighter. 

"Don't." Her voice was soft, wavering slightly. "Please don't go check it out." I looked down at her, noticing her pale face and the fear in her eyes. I blinked a couple of times, then it hit me. 

The pop. 

My ears went down and I swallowed as I realized why she didn't want me to see what happened, then I slowly wrapped my arms around Luz, making sure to avoid contact with her side. 

I didn't say anything for a minute, feeling Luz trembling slightly in my grasp. "King?" I called out again, this time my tone was stern. I couldn't help but silently hope it was something to do with the tiny demon rather than someone trying to break in. 

"I didn't break anything!" The demon finally called back, his voice sounding nervous. I could hear Luz a shaky sigh, her grip around my waist loosening a little. "At least, I don't think I did..." I could barely hear him say. 

"What did you knock over?" Luz asked him, his head quickly popping out from around the corner. He moved out from around the corner, tapping his little claws together. 

"Maybe one of Eda's piles..." He mumbled, looking down at the floor. Luz sighed again, shifting in my lap again. 

"Alborotador." I heard her say as she started to get up, but I was quick to stop her. 

"Nope, you aren't moving. I'll go help him pick it up." I helped her move off of my lap, making sure she was comfortable before I started to follow after King. 

"Don't be too long!" She called after me in a cheery tone, followed by a nervous laugh. I gave her a smile, then disappeared around the corner with the tiny demon. 

The demon lead me to a room, which its floor was now covered in a bunch of scattered human objects. "What were you even trying to do?" I asked the demon with a smirk, bending down and picking up a few of the items off the ground. 

"Hey! It's your fault! I wanted to nap in my window spot but I couldn't stand going out there with your two being lovey dovey!" I felt my cheeks warm up slightly, but I only scoffed and started piling the things up. 

"So in a fit of rage you knocked over a pile?" I asked over my shoulder. King lifted up a hand, ready to argue with me, but all that came out was a choked squeak. 

He fell silent for a minute, then folded his arms over his chest. "Maybe." He finally said, making me roll my eyes and turn back to the pile, stacking up more of the items. 

It only took a couple of minutes to pick up all the human artifacts, with me doing most of the work because King couldn't reach high enough to stack the items. Once we were done, I went to leave but was suddenly stopped when King ran in front of me. 

"Wait! Here, it's Luz's. I found it buzzing up in her room." He handed me a rectangle, and I realized it was Luz's human scroll. I tried to wrack my brain for what she called it, but I couldn't remember. I gave the demon a nod as thanks, then went back to the living room with Luz. 

Luz was drumming her fingers against her thigh until she saw me walk into the room. I could see her relax, a big smile forming on her face. "There you are!"

"Sorry it took so long, I was left with most of the work." Luz snorted, adjusting herself so that she was sitting up a bit more. "By the way, here's your human scroll thingy." I held the rectangle out to her, watching as her eyes lit up. 

"Was King too busy pouting to help?" Luz asked as I sat back down next to her on the couch, but I only shook my head. 

"No, he was just too short to pile thing up." I couldn't help but chuckle, scooting a little closer to Luz. She noticed me moving, then, leaned over until her head rested on my shoulder, the two of us sitting side by side. 

We went quiet again for a moment, then Luz suddenly gasped. "Oh, I should show you this song! I used to listen to it all the time!" She said excitedly, sitting up. 

"What song?" I asked, curiosity taking a hold of my voice. I could see the excitement in Luz's eyes as she quickly started typing something on her human scroll. She didn't even have to look down at the screen to see what she was typing. 

"It's called Darte Un Beso! I used to listen to it all the time... back at home..." Her voice suddenly trailed off as she looked down at her human scroll, her eyes widening. 

"Luz? What's the matter?" I asked softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"Amity, we have a problem."


	25. Down to Earth visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes! (At least, I don't think...)

Luz POV: 

"Luz, we already have enough problems, we don't need another. So what do you mean by we have a problem?" Amity asked as she gave my shoulder a light squeeze. I didn't look up at her, rather my gaze remained locked on my phone, eyes wide with more than a hint of fear. 

There, on the screen, were the notifications for nine missed calls and around twenty or so messages from my mom. 

"Luz?" I looked over at the teal haired witch, noticing the concern in her eyes. Her eyes widened slightly as she could see the panic seeping onto my face, then they darted down to my phone, trying to get a clue about what's going on. 

"I've gotta go, now." I said, getting ready to stand up, but Amity kept me in place. "Oh geez, my mom is going to kill me..." I muttered, running a hand through my hair. 

Amity still looked confused, her eyebrows furrowing tightly together. "Why is she gonna kill you?" She asked, but I only shook my head. 

"Because she hasn't heard from me for the past week or so!" I said with a bit of panic laced in my voice. Setting my phone down on the table in front of us, I ran my hands over my face, slightly pulling at the skin. "I was supposed to visit her the day that this happened!" I gestured to my side, biting my lip when I moved too harshly. "She hasn't heard from me since."

Amity's ears moved down slightly, the concern in her eyes clear. "Oh..." She finally muttered, drumming her fingers on her legs. "Oh." She muttered, this time with more of a realization. 

"Geez, she's probably been really worried, what am I even supposed to tell her?" I asked out loud, sticking both of my hands behind my head. "How is she going to even react?" 

"She won't make you stay back on Earth, right?" Amity suddenly asked, making a chill run down my spine. The thought didn't even come to mind that she'd make me stay again, but now that Amity brought it up, it only made things worse. 

I started to bounce my leg up and down, struggling to ignore each sharp jab it sent to my side. Taking in a deep, shaky breath, I shook my head. "No, no she won't." I muttered, noticing Amity looking over at me out of the corner of my eye. 

"How are you so sure?" There was a waver in her voice that wasn't hard to miss. "I mean, after something like this she might not let you ever come back!" 

"I'll be able to convince her!" I said, putting on a quick smile. "Just gotta use a bit of my charm. After all, they don't call me Luz the charmer for nothing!" I told Amity with a wink, struggling to suppress the nervous chuckle that wanted to bubble up. "But to do that, I've gotta do it in person." 

"First off, I've never heard anyone call you that." She said, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "Second, you're an idiot if you think I'm letting you go in person."

"And why not?" I asked, hoping that my stubbornness would make Amity give in. She shot me a deadpan look, placing her hand on my knee and despite the tension in the air, her action still sent jolts of electricity up my spine. 

"Luz, you just got out of the hospital." She told me, making me roll my eyes. "I'm being serious here, you just got out today. You're barely gonna be able to stand, let alone make it through the portal back to Earth." 

"Me going back to Earth like this isn't going to be much harder than when I first tried to do magic, which was considered impossible." I pointed out with a smirk, watching as Amity's ears twitched. "Besides, a phone call isn't going to fly over well with my mom..."

"You need rest." She said sternly, slowly rubbing circles on my knee. 

"No, what I need is to fill in my mom about what happened. Then I'll rest." I reached over and picked up my phone and quickly unlocked it, pulling up the messages between me and my mom. 

Amity fell silent, turning her gaze down to the floor. I stared at her for a minute, then looked down to her hand, which was still doing circles on my knee.

"Luz..." She started, then let out a heavy sigh before looking back up at me. "There's no way to convince you not to go, is there?" I shook my head, making her groan before running her hands through her hair. "Fine. But you aren't going alone." 

"Alright that's fair." I said, looking down at my phone and quickly typing out a message, speaking aloud while I did. "Hey mom, sorry for not responding for so long, give me a call when you can! Te quiero." I put a few hearts after that before clicking send. 

Amity stood up, fixing her shirt slightly before looking around the room. I went to stand up as well, but she stopped me. "I need to go get the key." I told her, but she just shook her head. 

"Just tell me where it is. I'll go get it." I hesitated for a minute, then nodded my head. 

"In my duffel bag up in my room." I told her and she gave me a nod, making her way to the hallway. "Tell King we're leaving please!" Amity called over her shoulder that she would, then she disappeared around the corner. 

I looked back down at my phone, seeing that my mom still hasn't responded. Setting my phone down, I started to tap my fingers against the couch, trying to create a rhythm.

It was surprisingly quiet, something that was a little odd for this place. Normally there was always something going on that made some kind of noise, whether it was King ranting about demons or Eda sorting through human junk. Honestly I found it unnerving that this place was this quiet. 

The teal haired witch quickly appeared from around the corner again, clutching the key to the portal tightly in her hand. "This is the key, right?" She held it up for me to see, the yellow eye gleaming in the light. 

"That's the one. Honestly I'm surprised you found it that fast." I chuckled, but it quickly turned into a hiss of pain. Amity quickly rushed over to me, but I held a hand up to stop her, signaling to her that I was fine. 

"Are you sure about this?" Amity asked, looking down at the key in her hand. I nodded my head, gently grabbing onto her arm. Then, I felt my phone start to buzz, startling Amity. 

I quickly picked up my phone, it buzzing again in my hands while I checked the recipient. "It's my mom, hold on." I muttered, hitting the little green button and holding it up to my ear. "Hola mamá!" I made sure to put a cheery tone in my voice. 

"Mija! Where have you been? I've missed the sound of your voice!" I winced slightly at her volume, then let out a few soft chuckles. Surprisingly she didn't sound mad. Amity raised an eyebrow, but she didn't say a word. Instead, she took a seat on the couch, clasping her hands together and waiting. 

"I've missed your voice too. Sorry about not responding for a bit, some stuff has happened." I swallowed, lightly tapping my free hand against my leg. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Amity's hand move closer to mine, then she took a hold of my hand, giving it a light squeeze. 

"I was wondering why you weren't responding! Does it have something to do with your little band?" She asked, then I could hear her gasp slightly. "Wait, does it have to do with that Amity girl you always talk about? Did you finally say something to her?" 

The excitement in her voice was clear, making a burning blush start to rise up to my cheeks. "Mom stop!" I hissed, hearing her laugh on the other end of the line. "But, I guess you could say it has to do with both of those things." 

"Well then, fill me in!" She said excitedly. I opened my mouth to say something, anything at all, but the words wouldn't come out. Amity gave my hand another squeeze, and looking over at her our eyes met. 

"I..." I paused for a second, turning my gaze away from Amity. "I'll fill you in soon. Question, are you at work right now?" I asked, hearing a bit of shuffling followed by a few stray voices come from her end of the line. 

"Yes, I am, but my shift ends in about half an hour." A smile rose to my face. 

"Perfect! Do you mind if I drop by? I'll be bringing a friend along, if that's okay." I squeezed Amity's hand, giving her a quick nod. 

"Is this friend you're bringing along named Amity?" I heard her ask, holding that taunting tone in her voice. I started to sputter out a response, which only made her chuckle. "Yes it's alright mija. I'll see you here soon okay? Te quiero!" 

"Yo también te quiero." I heard a click on the other end, then I let out a sigh. Leaning back until my back hit the couch, I stared up at the ceiling. "She gets off of her shift in thirty minutes." I told Amity before moving forward again, getting ready to stand up. 

"We're leaving now?" She asked and I nodded my head. 

"Might as well. After all, early bird gets the worm!" Amity blinked a few times, confusion slowly crossing her face. My smile slowly dropped, then I let out a sigh. "Right, forgot you guys don't know human phrases. Sorry." 

Amity stood up, then offered her hand out for me to take. Taking her hand in mine, I slowly started to lift myself up, gritting my teeth the entire time as pain shot up and down my body. 

Once I was finally able to stand, I looked at Amity with a smile, placing my hands on my hips. "See! Perfectly fine! Y'know, this kinda reminds me of when Azura still had to fight against..." My voice started to trail off as my vision became spotty. "Woah..." I managed to mumble before I felt my knees give from under me. 

"Luz!" Amity cried out, quickly catching me before I fell. She wrapped her arms around me, her arm grazing dangerously close to my side. "Are you okay? What happened?" She asked frantically, trying to get an answer. 

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" I quickly said, blinking hard a few time to clear the static out of my vision. "Just got dizzy, that's all." Amity let out a sigh in relief, mumbling a few things under her breath. 

Carefully, she propped me back up on my feet, taking my arm and putting it over her shoulder while keeping a grip on my wrist. She brought the key in front of us, staring at it for a moment. 

"So how does this thing work?" She asked, lightly running her thumb over the eye. 

"It's like a skeleton key. Stick it in any door, give it a turn and it turns into the portal. It's honestly pretty cool." I said, watching Amity grip onto the key. Very slowly, the two of us turned our heads to look at the front door. We sat in silence for a moment, then I shook my head. "Let's... not use it on the front door." 

"Would it kill that obnoxious owl?" Amity asked, a bit of hope in her voice. I lightly nudged her in the side, making her scoff. "What? It's just a question." 

"One that I don't have the answer to." I muttered, looking over at the teal haired witch. "And besides, if we turned Hooty into the portal door and killed him, technically we'd be killing the entire house. And to be honest with you, I don't want to figure out if he can rot." 

Amity grumbled something in response, then sighed. "So what other door should we use?" She asked, glancing around the room for another door to put the key in. 

"Kitchen." I muttered, trying to stand up a little straighter. "We can use the pantry door." Amity hummed in response, then slowly started to lead us to the kitchen. 

I struggled to walk steady, even with Amity holding me in place. "Are you really sure about this?" She asked softly, looking over at me. I gave her a determined nod, then turned my gaze forward again. "Alright... just, promise me you won't push yourself." 

"I promise. Don't worry too much Mittens." I teased, watching as her ears went down and her cheeks lit up. She let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head and lightly squeezing my wrist. 

"You know I hate that nickname." She said, making me chuckle even though it hurt. 

"And yet you let me use it without getting angry." My eyes landed on my beanie, which was just resting on the kitchen table. "Oh wait!" I stretched out, trying to not take the two of us down to the floor. 

"What are you doing?!" She asked, struggling to remain balanced. "Luz you're gonna make us fall!" 

"Put this on!" I said, ignoring her concern as I grabbed the beanie off of the table and quickly straightened back out. Holding it out, I waited for the witch to take it out of my hands. "To hide your ears in case we run into anyone." 

Amity glanced down at the beanie, then back at me, slowly nodding her head. She took it out of my hands, quickly throwing it on and struggling to adjust it. "How's this look?" She asked me, turning her head to face me. 

I raised a hand up to part of her beanie, pulling it down a little more over her ear. "You look like a natural." I told her with a smile, making her smile back. 

The two of us slowly closed the distance between us and the door, Amity holding the key out before pausing. "Why does Eda's pantry door have a lock on it to begin with?" 

"To stop King from raiding it at night. And maybe me." I said simply, making Amity nod her head. She quickly put the key in the lock and twisted it, the door shaking in response. 

The door knob quickly changed into a shiny gold as a familiar, giant eye opened in the middle of the door as the swirls started to form. Amity took a step back, her ears moving down slightly. 

Then, the door opened, the bright white light quickly creeping into the room. "That's obnoxiously bright." She mumbled, shielding her eyes with her free hand. I gave half a shrug, not saying anything as the two of us walked through the door. 

My vision was covered in in black dots, blurring the green landscape in front of me. I could hear Amity groan, struggling to clear her vision as well. The door closed behind us with a few loud thunks, then Amity yelped in pain. 

Luckily, this time the key hit her in the back of the head instead of me. 

I finally managed to clear my vision, and turning to Amity I watched as she rubbed her eyes. When she moved her hand away from her face, her eyes widened at the sights around her. I could see her ears moving under the beanie, probably trying to flap but couldn't due to the restrictions.

"Oh wow..." She finally said, looking all around us as she rubbed the back of her head. "Why are the trees green?" I snorted, then shrugged my shoulders. 

"Something to do with the color spectrum. Honestly I don't really know, I was never good in science. Anyways, welcome to the human world!" I looked down at the ground, barely able to see the tip of the key behind us. "Amity, the key." 

"Right! The key!" She looked around for a minute, then looked down and spotted it on the ground. "Can you stand on your own for a minute?" I slowly nodded my head, taking my arm off of her shoulder. 

Surprisingly, I managed to hold myself in place while Amity quickly bent down and grabbed the key, shoving it into her pocket. "Right, now we just need to leave the forest." 

Amity grabbed onto my arm again, placing it back over her shoulder. "Which way do we go?" I pointed ahead of us, and we started moving forward. "How far away is your house from here? Nothing's gonna jump out at us here, right?" 

"Not that far. And unless Yogi bear decided to take a visit to town, I doubt something will jump out at us." I sucked in a breath, bringing a hand to my side. Glancing over at Amity, I could see her quickly look away from me. 

"Once we reach the edge of the forest, which direction do we go? Left or right?" I hesitated for a minute, thinking it over in my head. 

"My left or yours?" Amity turned her head to face me, her eyebrows furrowing together. 

"Luz, they're the same." 

"Oh. Well then we go left." I mumbled, feeling my cheeks warm up slightly. The two of us walked until we made it the the clearing, the road ahead of us. A few cars whizzed past, making Amity tense up. 

"What were those?" She gave my wrist a light squeeze, her eyes practically filled with stars. 

"That was a car. Basically the carts of my world." I made a dramatic gesture with my hand, making Amity smile. "Y'know, if I learn how to drive, I'll take you for a ride sometime. They aren't that much more dangerous than a staff." 

"Sure." She said, her eyes catching the sight of my house. "Is that the house?" I nodded my head. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said it wasn't that far." I nodded my head again, then we started heading in that direction. 

The two of us made it to the front the house and I could see the garage opened with my mom's car inside. "She's already home, great." We both went up the front steps, pausing at the door. 

"Ready?" I asked as I looked over at the witch, who turned to face me. 

"Honestly I should be asking you that." She muttered, turning to face the door. "So, are you ready?" I watched as she raised a fist up to the door, waiting for my response. 

"As ready as I'll ever be." I muttered. Amity quickly knocked on the door and I tried to straighten myself out a little, hoping to hold up the facade that I was okay till we made it to the living room.

I heard a bit of shuffling on the other side, then the sound of a lock turning. The door quickly opened and we were met with the familair scent of home flowing out the door and my mom, who's eyes lit up at the sight of us. 

"Luz!" She exclaimed, instantly pulling me into a hug. My side instantly blew up in pain, feeling like a thousand blinding hot knives were stabbing me in the side, making me see white. I couldn't even cry out in pain, all I could manage was a strangled sound. My mom was saying something to me, but I wasn't able to catch any of it.

She pulled away, almost making me collapse to the floor, the only thing holding me up being Amity. My side was throbbing, sending extremely sharp jolts of pain up and down my spine. That, and there was something new. 

Now, instead of just the pain in my side, there was also a sharp, almost burning pain in my chest. "That's new." By the time the thought popped into my head, the pain in my chest disappeared. "Or maybe it's just because I'm actually moving around now." 

"It's so great to see you again!" Her gaze moved away from me, then landed on Amity. "And you must be the famous Amity I hear so much about!" I could hear Amity stammer for a minute, then she cleared her throat. 

"That's me. It's nice to meet you Ms. Noceda." My mom laughed, adjusting her glasses as they slid down her nose. 

"Please, just call me Camilla." She told Amity after her laughing stopped, then she looked back over at me. "Now, wanna tell me why you weren't answering any of my messages? I know you're busy back at the Isles, but mija you had me worried!" 

I wanted to give her a response, but I couldn't say a thing. It almost felt like my throat was closing up, and I was starting to feel sick. My vision was spotty, almost going black, but I was quick to try and blink it away. Swallowing, I opened my mouth to speak.

"I'm not doing so great..." I strained my voice to say, just loud enough for Amity to hear. She tensed up, her grip on my wrist tightening slightly. I looked over at Amity, noticing the uncomfortable look on her face.

"What was that mija?" My mom asked. I started to lean against Amity more, her becoming pretty much the only thing holding me up. Amity looked between me, then my mom, quickly getting out an answer. 

"Maybe we should go sit down." She suggested, the worry in her voice clear to me. 

"Of course!" My mom said in a happy tone, stepping aside to allow us it. "Do you guys want anything? Water?" I softly nodded my head, knowing she'd disappear long enough in the kitchen so she wouldn't see me stumble. "Alright I'll get you both a cup! Luz will lead you to the living room." 

My mom quickly disappeared, leaving me with Amity. "One foot in front of the other..." I mumbled under my breath, trying to move forward. "Amity... I might pass out." 

"I told you, don't push yourself." She drew a quick spell circle to lift me up, but it fizzled out. "What the?" 

"Magic doesn't work here, sorry Ammy." I let out a low groan as I brought my hand to my side that was still throbbing in pain, although it wasn't as severe as before. 

Amity sighed, then pulled me closer to her, taking small steps forward so that I could keep up. "I should be the one telling you sorry, which way is the living room?"

"Take a right at the staircase." I muttered, wincing as I gently placed my hand over my side. "It's the room with the T.V. on the wall, or well, the big rectangle." 

Amity nodded her head, then started to walk in the direction I told her, moving at a slow pace so I could keep up. The entire time her eyes roamed around the room, her gaze never staying in one place for too long. 

Once we made it to the living room, I collapsed onto the couch, leaning my head back and closing my eyes. The weight of the couch shifted on my good side, then I felt Amity place a hand on my shoulder. 

Soon enough, I could hear the sound of my mom's footsteps walk into the room as she hummed a familiar tune under her breath. "Now, I want to know everything you crazy kids have gotten into!" I lifted my head up to face my mom, who's eyes widened. "Mija are you alright? You look pale."

She quickly rushed over, placing the back of her hand against my head, the entire time she was mumbling Spanish under her breath. "Before we say anything, you're gonna want to take a seat." My mom backed up, looking at me with the concern painted clearly on her face. She turned to Amity, who tensed up under her gaze. 

Slowly, my mom took a few steps back, then sat in the chair a little to my right, clasping her hands together in her lap. "Alright, what is it mija? Did you two kill somebody?" She asked, but I only shook my head. 

"I wish I did." I heard Amity growl, which earned her a quick jab from me. "Hey!" She hissed, making my mom raise an eyebrow. 

"Alright look..." I started, catching my mom's attention. "So a week or so ago... oh geez how do I say this without giving you a heart attack?" Clasping my hands together, I went to rest them across my stomach before pulling back, letting out a low hiss in pain. 

Amity looked between me, then my mom, her ears now freeing themselves from my beanie in order to be pinned down. "Ms. Noceda, Luz got hurt, really badly." She finally said, her hands stuck as tight fists in her lap. 

My mom froze up, tensing up slightly in her seat. "Really badly... how?" She said after a moment of silence, her eyes remaining fixed on me as I struggled to regain my composure. 

"I may have been shot..." I started, instantly noticing the color drain in her face. All three of us went silent, unsure of what to say next. 

"Lo siento, ¿qué fue eso?" My mom finally asked, her voice shaking. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Amity blink a few times, clearly confused on what she just said. "¡¿Dijiste que eras qué?!"

"Listen, if you just give us a moment to explain-" Amity started, but stopped when my mom sprung up from her seat, talking so fast I couldn't understand a word she was saying. 

She dashed over to me, placing her hands on my shoulders as her eyes frantically scanned over me. "Luz Noceda ¡¿Estás loca?! ¿Cómo pasó esto? ¿Por qué estás aquí abajo con una herida así? ¡¿Por qué no me llamaste?!"

"¡Lo siento! Lo siento mucho, pero déjame explicarte!" I said, holding my hands out defensively. Amity scooted slightly to the side, trying to stay out of the way. 

"Where is it?" She asked, her voice barely shaking. I blinked a few times, looking up at her with a confused look. 

"Where's what?" I asked, making her furrow her eyebrows. She gave my shoulders a squeeze, her glasses slipping slightly down her face. 

"Your wound Luz. Where is it?" Her voice remained at a low tone, sending a chilling pang of fear to pierce my chest. 

"My side-" I started, only for her to try lifting up my shirt. "Mamá!" I exclaimed, trying to keep myself covered. Amity let out a squeak, then quickly got on her feet, her hands held tight at her sides. 

"I'll go to a different room..." She quickly said before walking off, her face a bright red. I continued to try and keep my shirt down, my face burning a bright red. 

"Luz." My mom's voice held that grave, scary parent tone, almost instantly making me stop. "Stop fidgeting, I need to make sure you're alright." 

"Yeah but did you have to do it in front of Amity like that?" I managed to squeak out, only earning a stern glare, making me back down again. 

I could feel her gently running her finger over the bandages, and looking up into her eyes I could see they were glossy with unshed tears. Guilt slipped into my veins, but was quickly replaced with pain as she brushed her fingers against my wound. 

Instantly she pulled her hand away, looking back up into my eyes, then back down at the bandages. "Amity? Dear?" She called over her shoulder, and I could see Amity pop her head around the railing. 

"Yes?" I could see the witch's ears were still down, her eyes barely darting over to me. 

"In the hallway, third door on the left is the bathroom. Go into the cupboard and grab the bandages por favor?" Her tone was suddenly gentle, a stark contrast to the low tone from earlier. Amity stood there, her eyebrows furrowing up in confusion. 

"She just said please!" I told Amity, making her nod her head before disappearing. "So what are you doing?" 

"I'm making sure they patched you up correctly..." She let out a sniffle, running the heel of her hand under her eyes to wipe away the tears. "Honestly Luz what were you thinking? I could've lost you! Did this happen with your mentor?"

"No!" I quickly interjected, bringing a hand up to her wrist. "Eda may do some dangerous things, but this didn't happen with her around!" 

"Then was it with one of your friends? I know they don't understand stuff from our world but wouldn't you tell them when something's dangerous?" 

"It wasn't with one of them either!" I said, feeling my eyes welling up with hot tears. 

"So what caused this?" She gave my shoulder a squeeze. 

"I was protecting Amity!" I finally yelled, instantly closing my mouth when I heard the silence. "I was protecting her..." I said, my voice softer this time. 

"Protecting her?" My mom's voice was soft as well, and looking up at her I could see a tear roll down her cheek. 

"Let me explain..." I muttered, motioning for her to take a seat. She did, and the moment she did, I quickly started running through what happened, trying to get it all out in only a couple of breaths. I also told her why I didn't let her know what happened, managing to pile that on with the rest. 

By the time I finished explaining, I was out of breath. "And now, we're here..." I panted slightly, placing a hand over my chest as I tried to catch my breath. My mom stayed silent, making me steal a glance over at her. "Listen, I know that was a lot and that's probably not what you wanted to hear from your daughter after work-" 

She pulled me into a hug, quickly shutting me up. "Cariño, you should've just called me." I could feel her squeeze me a little harder, making sure to avoid my side. I stayed silent for a moment, nuzzling my head into her shoulder a little further.

"I figured a call wouldn't fly over well with you. Especially with something like this." I muttered into her shoulder, slowly reciprocating a hug. "Besides, I figured it'd give you less of a heart attack if I showed up in person." 

"Mija you should've stayed and gotten rest." She said as she pulled away, making me give half a chuckle. 

"Funny, Amity told me the same thing before we came by..." I rubbed the back of my neck, making my mom furrow her eyebrows together. 

"That's because that girl has some common sense." I placed a hand over my chest, pretending to be offended. "I'm serious Luz. But I guess that leaves me one less thing to worry about, maybe she'll be able to keep you out of trouble." 

Suddenly from behind us, Amity cleared her throat. "I got the bandages." She said softly, motioning to her hand. Quickly walking over, she handed the bandages to my mom, who gave her a soft smile. 

"Thank you querida." She told Amity, who gave my mom a soft smile back. Amity's eyes met mine, then her cheeks lit up with a bright red again. 

"I'll just be around the corner, since, y'know..." Amity fell silent, tapping her hands against her thighs before spinning on her heel and quickly leaving the room. My mom let out a chuckle, but I couldn't tell if it was a bitter chuckle or an amused one. 

"Alright, sit up." She told me, putting her hand on my shoulder and gently pushing me up. "At least, try to sit up as straight as you can." 

"So about halfway?" I joked, snapping her a set of finger guns. My mom bit her lip, holding back a chuckle as she shook her head. 

Quickly, she managed to undo the bandages wrapped around me and quickly started unraveling, making sure to be careful the entire time. By the time the bandages started pulling at my skin, I let out a small sound of discomfort. 

She got the rest of it off, her eyes scanning over my wound. I glanced down at it myself, seeing the neatly stitched wound on my side. "Doesn't look infected..." I could hear her mumble as she gently prodded around the wound. 

The contact made me tense, but thankfully it didn't hurt. "Well I mean, they are magic." I lightly shrugged my shoulders, but my mom only shook her head. 

"That doesn't mean they know anything about humans mija." Her eyes met with mine, then her eyebrows lightly bunched together. "Are they even giving you an antibiotic up there? Pain medicine?" I shrugged my shoulders again. 

"You'd have to ask Eda. They gave me something that left me all loopy and weird and I don't remember a thing." She sighed, shaking her head again. Then, using the bandages in her hands, she started to apply more to my side. 

It didn't take long for her to reapply the bandages. "That's not too tight right?" She asked me, pulling at the end gently. I shook my head, then she turned her gaze down to my bandages, quickly clipping it together so that it would stay on. 

She started to get up to take care of my old bandages, but I grabbed her by the arm. "Mom wait." She raised an eyebrow at me, and I was quick to swallow down my fear. "You're not making me stay back here on Earth instead of the Boiling Isles, right?" 

My mom froze up, turning her gaze down to the floor. After a long time, which was maybe only a minute or so, she took a deep breath, pushing her glasses up further on her face. 

"Listen mija..." She started, turning to look at me before pausing. Her eyes darted around my face a bit, then she let out a sigh. "No... I won't make you stay." 

Instantly my face lit up and I pulled her into a hug, tightly squeezing her. "¡Dios mío, gracias!" I exclaimed, feeling her tense up in my grasp. "I can promise you nothing like this will happen again!" 

"It better not mija." She said softly, gently pushing me away from her. "If it does, I will make you stay here." Then, she turned her gaze behind us and following her gaze, I found Amity standing there, just leaning against the wall. 

Amity looked like she tensed up when she realized she had been noticed, but she didn't say a word. My mom motioned for her to come over, which made the teal haired witch spring into action. 

She took a seat next to me, this time making sure to keep her distance. "She's letting me stay in the Boiling Isles Amity!" I told her, making the witch's eyes widen. 

"It was that easy to convince her?" Amity asked me, making my mom sigh in response. I looked over at her, watching as she pushed up her glasses to rub her eyes. 

"To be honest with you, I want you to stay here." My mom started, making my eyes widen. "But I wouldn't be able to take time off of work to help you, and I know you still have everyone there to keep an eye on you. Especially this one." She jabbed a thumb in Amity's direction, making her eyes widen a bit. 

"What makes you think that?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest. My mom rolled her eyes, shooting me a smirk. 

"Because, from what I've heard you two stick pretty close together." My mom then turned to Amity, a smug smirk appearing on her lips. "Speaking of pretty close, you dating anyone by any chance?" She asked, making mine and Amity's face burn a bright red. 

Amity hesitated for a minute, letting out a nervous set of chuckles as her ears flapped. "I, I mean now I am..." Her eyes widened as she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, her ears pinning themselves down. 

"Oh really!" My mom turned to face me, giving me a toothy smile. I blinked, almost wanting to disappear at that moment. "So how long have you two been together?" I let out a squeak, Amity looked like she was about to combust into flames. 

"Mom!" I whined, trying to hide my face. "Stop it!" 

"That doesn't answer the question." My mom said, I took a deep breath, running my hands through my hair. Turning to Amity, I silently asked if we should say anything. She looked between me and my mom, then shrugged her shoulders, still bright red in the face. 

I let out a sigh, turning to my mom. "It's a new thing..." I mumbled, just barely loud enough for her to hear. Her smile grew wide, then she looked at Amity, motioning for her to stand. 

Amity looked over at me, confusion written clear on her red face. I shrugged my shoulders and Amity turned away, slowly standing up in front of my mom. Then, in a flash, my mom pulled her into a tight hug, making the teal haired witch go stiff as a board. 

"Welcome to the family quierda!" She told Amity, who could only let out a squeak. My mom quickly pulled away, placing her hands on Amity's shoulders. "I will say though, hurt Luz and you won't hear the end of it from me." Her voice dropped the cheery tone it held before, quickly turning into a serious one.

The teal haired witch slowly nodded her head and my mom put a smile back on. "Mom, please don't scare her." I said, which only made her laugh. 

"I'm telling her the truth mija." Amity let out a nervous chuckle, turning around to face me, silently asking me what to do. "Now Amity," Amity turned her attention back to my mom. "do you need anything? Other than a last name that is." My mom chuckled again at Amity's reaction.

"Mom!" I hissed, feeling my cheeks go a deeper shade of red. Looking at Amity, it looked like she'd crumple to the floor if my mom let go of her shoulders. "Look, as much as I love seeing you again, we've got to get back." 

My mom let go of Amity, who stumbled back until the back of her knees hit the couch, where she collapsed with a hand over her heart. Her eyes were darting across the floor, her mind clearly going a million miles a minute. 

"Oh that reminds me! I'm coming with you." She suddenly said, making my eyes widen. "I need to pay somebody a visit." There was a hint of venom in her voice as she spoke, a dark glint forming in her eyes. 

But, her dark glint instantly went away when her phone suddenly rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked it over, a low sigh escaping her lips. "Work?" I asked, earning me a nod. 

She quickly picked up the phone and started talking to someone on the other end. While she did that, I turned to Amity, noting how she was still red int he face. Reaching over, I placed a hand on her leg, making her jump at the contact. 

The call didn't last long, and when my mom hung up she let out another sigh. "Scratch that mija, I've got to go back to work, which means you two will have to head back on your own." 

Amity shakily stood up, her hands still shaking as she tried to take in a few deep breaths. Then, she turned to me, offering me her hand, which I was quick to take. 

I was quickly pulled to my feet, giving me a sharp jab of pain in my side. "I'll visit again soon, I promise." I told my mom as Amity placed my arm over my shoulder, but my mom only shook her head. 

"You're not visiting me again until you're better mija." She walked over to me, giving me a quick kiss on the forehead. "And I'm serious when I say that. For now, just stick to the calls and texts okay?" 

"Are you sure?" I asked, knowing it'd be awhile before I was better. My mom nodded her head, placing her hand on my shoulder. 

"I'm positive." Then, she looked over at Amity, giving the witch a smile. "Keep her in check for me, will you?" Amity nodded her head, making my mom chuckle. "Treat her right dear, I trust you." 

"Yes ma'am." Amity responded, then turned to look at me, her ears twitching. "Ready?" 

"When am I not?" I joked, but before we started to walk, I turned back to my mom. "Te quiero, mamá."

"Yo también te amo Luz, ten cuidado." She gave the both of us a smile, then stepped aside, letting us go. Amity and I quickly started to leave, I struggled to ignore the pain in my side. "Let me know when the wedding is you two!" She called out to us, getting one last tease in before we left. 

Both of us stayed quiet at her comment, the two of us still red in the face. The rest of the walk back to the old abandoned house wasn't too eventful, I did nearly fall halfway there because I got dizzy. 

Amity quickly put the key in the door and activated the portal, both of us walking inside. When we reemerged, we were on the outskirts of Bonesborough, the lights from the buildings bright compared to the dark night sky. 

"Home sweet home..." I could hear Amity mumble. "Where around every corner, something will try to kill you." I let out a small chuckle, softly shaking my head. 

"That didn't go as badly as we thought it would, now did it?" Amity shook her head, making me smile. "Now, it's about time we headed back to the owl house, I can finally go to sleep in my room for the first time in awhile." I rub above my wound a little bit, feeling the pain creeping up my side.

The teal haired witch paused for a moment, then turned to me. "Do you still sleep on the floor?" She asked, making me blink a few times. I stayed silent, turning my gaze away from the witch. She let out a sigh, then started walking forward. "I'm taking that as a yes. In that case, you're crashing at my place tonight." 

"Huh?" I asked, watching as Amity drew a spell circle. I felt my feet lift off of the ground some pressure on my side being lifted. 

"You can sleep on my bed." She said, holding her hand out as she walked, I floated behind her. 

"Amity I'm not kicking you out of you're own bed. I can sleep on the floor, I'll be fine." I said, my voice a little higher than usual. Amity just shook her head. "I mean, that or we could share..." I mumbled, just barely loud enough for her to hear.

The witch froze in her tracks, letting out a squeak. She quickly shook her head and started to walk again, mumbling things under her breath as her ears softly flapped. 

"It's fine Luz, I can take the floor, you can take the bed." She finally said. I wanted to argue, but I stayed quiet. The rest of our walk was pretty much in silence until Amity's house came into view. "Let's hope the twins aren't home yet..." 

We both went inside, and the moment we did, both the twins popped their head out from upstairs. "Hey there you two!" Edric called out, making Amity groan. 

"Dammit..." I heard her mutter, letting out a groan before rolling her eyes. "Listen, Ed, Em, now isn't the time." She said, making the twins laugh as they quickly appeared by our sides. 

"Oh c'mon Mittens, it's always the time for us. You're just grumpy." Edric nudged Amity, making her shoot him a glare. 

"And you're just annoying." She hissed, carefully bringing me down to the ground before turning off the spell. "Look, I'm just gonna take Luz upstairs to my room for the night, so keep your noise down for one, will you?" 

"We should be saying that to you." Emira teased, making my eyes widen. I let out a little squeak, but Amity only hissed, shooting her sister a death glare. Then, she took a deep breath, straightening out slightly. 

"Alright, before Mittens blows a fuse, let's let her take her girlfriend upstairs." Edric nudged his twin, making her laugh. 

"I'm tired..." I muttered, sounding a little irritated as I leaned up against Amity. I could see something flash across the twins faces as the tone of my voice, but they were quick to cover it. 

"Well then, we won't keep you here." Emira muttered, both of them turning on their heels and leaving the room. Amity hesitated for a moment, then slowly started moving forward, making sure to stay slow so that I could keep up. 

The two of us went upstairs to Amity's room, and once we made it there Amity closed the door behind us. Amity carefully moved us over to the bed, then helped me sit down towards the middle of the bed. 

"You're bed's cozy." I said aloud, running my hand up and down her blanket. Amity moved towards the foot of the bed, keeping her gaze on the window. I stared at her for a minute, then slowly started to lay down, making sure to be careful. 

"Yeah... it is." Amity said after a minute, not moving from her spot. She started to bounce her leg up and down, her posture stiff. 

We fell quiet for a minute, I stared at the witch who continued to stare at the window. "I don't bite Ammy." I said after a bit, letting a soft chuckle slip as I nudged her with my foot. 

"I know you don't." She muttered, finally turning to face me. "I mean, unless you've suddenly gone rabid." She joked, making me smile. 

I held my hands up, making them look like claws as I let out a fake growl, making Amity laugh. Her laugh was nice, making a pale blush rise to my cheeks. 

Giving her another nudge, I let out a small chuckle. "You can relax, you know." I told her, watching as she stiffened up again. 

"What are you talking about? I am relaxed." She placed a hand on her bouncing knee, struggling to make it stop. I blinked, looking down at her leg, then back up at her. 

"You're sitting on the edge of your own bed. You don't seem like it." I said softly, propping myself up on my elbows. 

"I am." She said quickly, her knuckles going white. 

"Ammy, you're bouncing your leg. You aren't relaxed." I told her making her let go of her leg before shaking her hand. 

"What's wrong with bouncing my leg?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest. Her ears were pinned down, but her face remained neutral. 

"You do that when you aren't relaxed." I said, making her eyes widen slightly. She tried to quickly cover it up, bringing her hands down to her sides. 

I could see her hesitate with her response, then she turned her gaze away from mine. "Since when?" She asked, her voice suddenly going soft. I could see her look up at the door, her ears twitching. 

"Since I've known you." I pointed out, the teal haired witch staying silent. I debated what to say for a moment, then slowly sat up, wincing a little when a bit of pain shot up my side. "Come here." I waved at Amity to come over, hearing her suck a breath in through her teeth. 

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then she slowly scooted over to me. I slowly pulled her into a hug, noticing how her breathing got shaky. "Why are you acting all nervous?" I asked her softly, hearing a flat chuckle escape her lips. 

"Besides the fact you're here?" I nodded my head, slowly bringing my hand up to take the beanie off of her head, throwing it to the side before running my hand through her hair. "No reason..." 

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"It's nothing really..." She mumbled into my shoulder, letting out a small sniffle. "It's just me being paranoid." 

"About what?" Amity slowly put her arms around my neck, her body starting to shake. 

"Everything..." She managed to say, her voice sounding so vulnerable. "But you have enough on your plate already, I don't need to worry you with this."

"Leaving me to wonder about what's worrying you will make me worry. You can spill." Amity's breathing hitched slightly, I could feel her pull me a little closer, still trying to watch out for my side. 

There was silence for a moment, then Amity spoke again, her voice shaky. "What if something else happens?" I froze up for a moment, licking my lips before giving Amity a light squeeze. 

"Nothing else is going to happen Ammy, I promise." I told her, trying to keep my voice steady. 

"You don't know that... first there was that creep, then Matt..." She mumbled, nuzzling her head a little deeper into my neck. Normally the action would make a blush rise to my cheeks, but I pushed it away this time. 

"You know, you never told me what he did, well, other than him being a massive downer." I could feel Amity suddenly tense up, her hands clenching into tight fists on my back. 

"He... he tried..." Amity suddenly pulled away, trying to get off the bed. "I've... I've got to go out for a breather, just for a minute." Before she could get too far away, I gently grabbed onto her wrist, keeping her in place. 

"Amity, what did Matt do?" I asked, seeing how her eyes were glossy now. She opened her mouth to speak, but there was a sudden set of knocks at the door, startling both of us. 

I let go of Amity's wrist, placing a hand over my now racing heart. "Hey you two." Emira opened the door and poked her head inside. "Just wanted to let you guys know that we're going to bed, alright?" 

We both nodded our heads, Emira giving us a slight smile. Then, she disappeared, closing the door behind her. Amity stood frozen in place for a minute, then sat down at the foot of her bed once again. 

"Sorry..." She finally said, her voice dry. "It's just, Matt's a..." Amity started to drum her fingers on her leg, swallowing before starting to speak again. "He's a touchy subject I guess." Then, she let out a bitter laugh, running her hands through her hair. "And the thing is, I need to tell you why he is. After all, the whole reason I threw him out was because of that stunt he tried to pull on you!" 

After saying that, Amity froze up, her eyes wide. I hesitated for a moment, trying to wrap my head around what she said. "The stunt... he tried to pull on me?" I finally managed to say, staring intently at the witch who now fiddled with the hem of her shirt. 

Slowly, I reached my hand out to put on the witch's shoulder, who only tensed up at the contact. I pulled my hand away when she did, making her turn to face me. Her eyes darted down from my face to my hand, a look on her face that I couldn't describe. 

"Sorry..." She mumbled, clasping her hands together in her lap. Then, she let out a bitter laugh. "It's stupid how jumpy I am." 

"Hey, have you noticed how jumpy I am?" I said to her, making her look over at me before shaking her head. 

"You have a legit reason to be. I'm just paranoid." I let out a dry laugh that quickly shifted to a wince, making me bite my lip. 

The teal haired witch looked over at me, concern etched in her eyes. "You have just as much of a reason Amity." I said after a minute, taking in a few deep breaths. 

"No I don't, you were the one that actually got hurt." She told me, her eyes darting down to my side, just for a moment. "Even though I should've been the. one that gotten hurt, not you. 

"You were hurt too Ammy, it just wasn't all on the outside." The witch stayed silent, making me reach a hand out to her shoulder again. This time, she didn't tense up, rather, she leaned into my touch. 

I slowly pulled the witch into another hug, feeling her melt in my touch. I hoped she couldn't tell how shaky my breathing had gotten, but I knew that was too much to ask. However, she didn't say anything. 

"Look, you don't have to tell me what he did now..." I muttered, resting my head on top of hers. "You can tell me another time what happened with you know who." I wanted to chuckle as I thought of another witch reference, but I stayed quiet. 

Amity wrapped her arms around my shoulders, staying quiet for what felt like an eternity before she spoke. 

"He... tried to finish the job."

My eyes widened at her statement. "He, what?" I asked, tightening my arms around Amity. 

"If Eda didn't drop by for a visit, he would've succeeded. He was working with the guy that hurt you." She told me with a sniffle. I opened my mouth to say something, anything that might bring comfort to the witch, but my mind pulled a blank. 

Licking my lips, I finally found my voice. "Can you hear my heartbeat right now?" I asked her, feeling her nod her head. "It's still here, I'm still here. That's what matters." Amity nodded her head again, squeezing me a little tighter. 

"But still... what if he did manage to do it?" She asked softly, her voice trembling with emotion. "What if he did manage to finish you off?" 

"He didn't Amity, and I promise you he never will." Amity gave me another squeeze as I struggled to stifle a yawn. "And hey, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired." 

"Yeah... same here." I felt a small smile rise to my lips as I slowly started to lean back, taking the small witch with me. The two of us laid down, both of us laying so that we were facing one another. 

I pulled her a little closer to me, her head resting in the crook of my neck. Then, I slowly snaked my arms around her waist, resting my head on top of hers. "You're warm..." I mumble, feeling my eyes flutter. 

"So are you..." She mumbled back, the tip of her ear lightly grazing the bottom of my chin. "It's soothing." 

"That's good." I told her, feeling her nod. We both fell silent for a minute, a few stray sniffles coming from Amity. 

"You'll be here when I wake up, right?" She suddenly asked out of the blue, making me open my eyes. I didn't pull away from the witch, but I softly nodded my head. 

"Always." I told her, giving her a quick peck on the top of her head. A soft squeak came from the witch, making me smile. "Goodnight Ammy." I mumbled. 

There was a moment of silence, then Amity spoke up. "Goodnight Luz." She finally said, relaxing in my embrace. I couldn't help but smile, managing to push away thoughts about everything that's happened and just think about the witch I held in my arms, quickly drifting off to sleep.


	26. Double or nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ga(y)sp what's this???? A twin centered chapter??
> 
> lmao anyways, thought I'd give our favorite pranksters a bit of spotlight real fast because why not??
> 
> (also sorry this took forever, it was supposed to come out last night but I passed out and it deleted half of my work like... bitch why would you do that-)

Edric POV: 

I sat at the kitchen table, only halfway awake. Rubbing my eyes, I drew a quick spell to clean off my plate before floating it back to the cupboard with a small smile. "Y'know, I could really just pick a seat for the rest of my life and float whatever I need to myself with the simple twirl of my finger. Life could be easy." 

My voice echoed slightly off the walls, reminding me that I was the only one up. With a low sigh, I ran a hand through my messy hair, then summoned my scroll to make it float in front of me. Propping my other arm up on the table, I drew a quick electricity spell, watching the yellow circle envelope around my wrist. 

With the spell activated, I started to flick my middle finger across the pad of my thumb, creating small sparks that fizzled and died quickly in the air. I watched the sparks for a moment, my eyes following them as they flew into the air. 

Then, I held my fingers together for a moment, feeling the buzz of the spell travel up my arm. I waited a moment, then let the sparks go. This time, it flew out as a larger spark, going maybe a foot or so in front of me before dying out with a loud pop. 

I let out a small chuckle, then turned my attention back to my scroll, opening up Pensta while I continued to make sparks. There wasn't anything too interesting, but it was better than sitting there and doing nothing. 

A bit of time later I heard the wooden steps creak under someone's weight. My eyes flicked up the stairs for a moment, being greeted by my messy haired twin. "Took you long enough to wake up you lazybones." I muttered, turning my gaze back down to my scroll. 

"Oh shut it Ed." She growled, stretching both of her arms above her head, her baggy shirt collar slipping down her shoulder. Even from where I was at, I could hear the faint sound of her joints popping. "Why are you even up this early?" 

"Wanted breakfast. Also, it's not that early." I said simply, flicking a few sparks in her direction. She flinched slightly, then furrowed her eyebrows together. 

"Yeah right. What did you prank without me?" She asked, her eyes darting down to the sparks for a minute. "And why are you doing that?" I shrugged my shoulders, holding my fingers together for a moment before letting it go with a soft pop. 

"Honestly, I don't even know." I muttered, making her roll her eyes. "And yeesh, is it a crime to set up a prank without you?" Emira scoffed, moving over to the table before pulling out a seat. 

"It's a crime if it's against Mittens. You know I love watching her get red in the face over something stupid!" She leaned her chin on the heel of her hand, her signature smirk plastered on her lips. 

"Speaking of little ol' Mittens, you know if she's up yet or not?" I asked, eyeing the stairs once again. "Not like her to sleep in this late." My twin nodded her head, then shrugged, her gaze also going up towards the stairs. 

"No clue. But, if she is up, she's not gonna come down here. She's gonna stay up there with Luz." My twin mumbled before chuckling. 

"Do we really expect anything less of her though?" I asked with a smirk, Emira shaking her head. "That's what I thought." Using my free hand I made my scroll disappear before running it through my hair again, trying to get some of the knots out. 

The two of us went quiet, save for the sounds of the crackling sparks flying from my fingers. Emira let out a low sigh, laying her head down on the table. "I'm so fucking tired..." Her voice was muffled, but it still made me laugh. 

"Should've went to bed early. You're the one who set up the plans for today." I told her with a laugh, making her look up and glare at me before putting her head back down. 

"I know I did, but I didn't expect to get up this early." She mumbled, making me roll my eyes, it was maybe an hour before noon, not that early. I stood up, still producing the sparks from my fingers as I made my way over to the stairs. 

"Excuses excuses." I teased, Emira not looking up to face me this time. "Anyways, I'll go see if Mittens and Luz are up yet." I got a thumbs up from my twin, then I slowly started to make my way up the stairs. 

It was fairly quiet upstairs, making me assume the two were still out cold. However, when I moved closer to Amity's door, I could hear the sound of hushed whispers escaping from behind the cracked open door. 

Slowing down my pace so the floor wouldn't give me away, I made my way over to her door, just barely peeking my head inside. I saw that both of them were sitting up, facing one another as they spoke in quiet voices. 

Luz had a hand on the side of Amity's face, which was a bright red shade. Her ears quickly flapped up and down as she struggled to stammer out a response to whatever Luz said before. "You okay?" I heard Luz ask, her voice sounding slightly shaky.

Amity nodded her head. "What are you doing?" She finally managed to squeak. Luz chuckled, softly shaking her head. 

"I mean, it seems pretty obvious..." The girl let out another chuckle, this one louder than the first. "C'mon Ammy, I'm supposed to be the dense one here." I furrowed my eyebrows together, pulling away slightly from the door. 

"Ammy?" I whispered under my breath, trying to remember a time where Luz ever called Amity that. My ears twitched when I heard Amity's babbling, struggling to correctly form a sentence. I poked my head in again, my eyebrows raising. 

"Of course, that's only if you want to! No pressure or anything!" Luz quickly stammered out, moving her hand away from my sister's face to hold them up defensively. Amity was quick to take a hold of Luz's hands, rapidly nodding her head. 

"Oh my gods..." I could feel the smile growing on my face as I stopped making sparks, holding my fingers together, an uncomfortable static feeling rising up my arm. With my other hand I summoned my scroll, a low, sinister chuckle rising up in my throat. "Blackmail~" 

Both of them froze up for a minute, making me worry that they heard me. However, it wasn't long before they started to lean in. I held my breath, ready to break into a run the moment I got the photo. 

Then, a sharp pain shot up my arm, making me let go of the sparks I was holding. It flew off towards Em's room, dying out with a loud pop. I heard a yelp come from Amity's room and my ears went down. "Oh no..." I muttered, peeking back into the room and making my scroll disappear while I wildly waved my hand, trying to get rid of the buzzing feeling the sparks left behind. 

Now, Luz was practically in my sister's lap, one hand over her heart and the other tightly gripping Amity's shoulder. They spoke even quieter than before, making it near impossible for me to understand. The only thing I could understand were a few words of comfort coming from my sister, trying to soothe the girl in her arms. 

"What'cha see Ed?" Emira suddenly appeared by my side to peer into the room, her voice no louder than a whisper. "Any good opportunities for leverage against Mittens?" She asked with a smirk on her face. I grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back from the door. 

"Back up." I hissed, giving her a light shove. She blinked a few times, then tilted her head as her eyebrows bunched together. More whispers came from Amity's room, making me silently hope they couldn't hear us. 

"What? Why?" She chuckled, moving towards the door again. I spun her around and started quickly shoving her away, struggling as she dug her heels into the ground. "Ed c'mon!" My twin hissed with a laugh, trying to go back. 

"No! Em, I messed up and now we gotta go before Mittens catches us!" I finally managed to push my sister to the top of the stairs, then gave her a rough shove to force her to go down. She yelped in surprise, nearly tripping down the steps before she grabbed the handrail. "She will kill me if she sees me out here, go!"

"What did you even do?" Emira asked me with a laugh as I quickly passed her going down the stairs, hoping I could make it down there and act natural. 

"Might've scared Luz and accidentally ruined their first kiss..." I said all in one breath, barely able to understand what I said myself. I speed walked to the kitchen and threw myself into a chair, nervously drumming my fingers on the table with one hand while I rested my chin on the other. 

Emira slowly made her way into the kitchen, her eyebrows furrowed together. "You... their first kiss?" She finally asked, confusion clear in her voice. "Hold on wait, are they a thing?!" 

I shrugged my shoulders, still tapping my fingers against he table. "Maybe? I don't know..." Emira let out a snort, then busted up into a full fit of laughter, leaning against the wall so that she wouldn't fall. 

"Gods Ed, watch as-" My twin let out a loud wheeze, unable to finish her sentence. She struggled to catch her breath, nearly doubling over as she placed both hands on her knees. "Watch as you just blocked Mittens from confessing." 

"Correction, Luz confessing." I pointed, only making Emira laugh even harder. "And it's not like I did it on purpose, I just don't prefer giving myself an actual heart attack while trying to get blackmail." 

My twin was still laughing, struggling to walk over to a chair at the table and take a seat. I could see the tears pooling in her eyes, one slipping down her cheek before she quickly wiped it away. "Who knows Ed? Maybe it's jump start your brain cells!" 

"Okay wow, gee sis love you too." I mumbled sarcastically, rolling my eyes. Emira gave me a rough shove, nearly making me fall out of my chair. I flipped her off in response, only making her stick out her tongue. 

The stairs creaked again, making the two of us look up. We watched as Amity darted down, swinging slightly on the handrail before darting in the kitchen, clearly in a rush. "Well morning to you too Mittens." Emira said, making Amity's ears twitch. 

She grabbed a water bottle and spun around on her heel, pausing in her tracks for a moment. "Mittens? Have you gone deaf or what?" I teased, making her let out a loud, annoyed sigh. 

"Good morning." She finally said, making Em and I smile. 

"What's got you in such a rush?" Emira asked, only making Amity roll her eyes. I noticed that despite her poker face, there was a hint of panic in her eyes. "Missing out on some valuable make out time or what?" Amity puffed out her cheeks, a red blush rising to her ears. 

"It's nothing that'd worry you two." She snapped, her voice tight. "First you guys set off some kind of loud prank that wakes up me and Luz, then you decide to go through this spiel again..." Em and I exchanged glances, smirks rising to our lips. 

"Whatever you say. You can head back up to your girlfriend if you want~" I leaned back in my chair slightly, hearing Amity scoff. She made her way over to the stairs, already half way up before Emira perked up. 

"Mittens wait!" Amity paused, turning her head to give Em an annoyed look. "Ed and I have plans today, you two gonna be good here on your own?" I watched as Amity's eyebrows furrowed together slightly, her gaze darting to me for a moment before back to Em. 

"I knew you had plans." She pointed a finger to Emira, then pointed it at me. "But I never knew you had plans." I let out a little chuckle, leaning onto the table. 

"Well, once Jerbo and I heard about Em's little outing, we decided to be the third and fourth wheel. Besides, Viney's too nice to tell us not to come." I shot her a smile, making my sister roll her eyes. 

"Remind me not to tell you guys..." She quickly closed her mouth, her eyes widening. 

"What was that Mittens? Were you trying to say that you shouldn't tell us when you and your girlfriend go on a date?" I teased, making Amity's cheeks darken a shade. She huffed, then continued her way upstairs, disappearing from our sight. 

Once I figured Amity moved out of earshot, Emira turned to me, letting out a small sigh. "When are you gonna tell her about you and Jerbo?" She asked me, but I only shrugged. 

"Soon. Not right now since everything's happened, but soon." I said, making her shake her head. "What?" 

"Nothing it's just the fact that I still have no clue how you managed to keep you two being a thing hidden for so long!" She laughed, running a hand through her hair. "Not even gonna lie to you Ed, that's impressive." 

"Yeah well, unlike you, I didn't try to sneak him in all the time. I would always sneak out if I wanted to see him." Emira's cheeks went red, making me smirk. "Besides, the only way you found out was because Viney was dragging you through the forest to her house." 

She stayed quiet for a minute, then sighed. "Okay fine, you win there." 

"I know I did." I said smugly, watching her run her hands over her face. 

"Seriously, I thought you were going to be the last sibling in this family to get with someone but you were actually the first one? Like... how?" She asked, her voice holding a hint of exasperation. 

"Well, compared to you two who get red in the face at the brief mention of your crushes, I learned how to put on a good poker face." I stood up, getting ready to head upstairs. "Now, we should probably go get ready for the day. After all, it isn't a double date without the Blight doubles, amiright?" 

Emira gagged, shaking her head. "Never refer to us as the Blight doubles again." 

"What? Worried that you'll be known as the second Blight double because I'm clearly the superior twin?" Emira's lips pursed into a thin line as she rolled her eyes, giving me a shove. I went to continue on with my banter, but before I could, my ears twitched when I heard someone walking down the stairs. 

For a second, I thought it was Amity again and I was ready to start teasing her, but I held back my words when I realized it was Luz. "Oh, hey Luz!" She gave a weak wave in response, not even giving us a smile. 

"What're you doing up cutie?" Emira asked, spinning around in her chair until she faced the human. Luz sucked in a breath, her hand hovering over her side. 

"Amity's in the shower, so I came down to get another drink." She mumbled, slowly walking into the kitchen. I noticed how she didn't call Amity by the nickname I heard earlier, raising my suspicion. I folded my arms over my chest, furrowing my brows slightly. 

"You shouldn't be up you know. Mittens' gonna blow a fuse if she finds out." I could hear the human huff, pausing in her tracks before side glancing me, her eyebrows furrowed together. 

"Yeah yeah, I know. Look I'm not really in the mood for any of this right now, so if you could just shut it, that'd be great." The irritated tone of her voice made my ears twitch, my eyebrows raising in a bit of surprise. Luz blinked a few times, then her eyes widened in a panic. She turned to face me, holding one hand out defensively. "Oh geez, I'm sorry! That came off really mean!" 

Emira shook her head, waving Luz's worries aside. "Don't sweat it, you're in pain and don't feel the greatest. You can get your drink and go relax." She told her gently, making the girl turn to look at her. 

"Are you sure?" She asked, her voice going soft. We both gave her a nod, making her nod her head as well. "Alright... I'm sorry again Edric." 

I chuckled, lightly shaking my head. "Looks like Mittens' sour attitude is starting to rub off on ya." Luz looked down, placing a hand on her heart and giving it a couple of rubs. "Besides, I've heard way worse before." 

Luz didn't say anything else, rather, she grabbed herself a drink and headed back upstairs as quick as she could. I leaned against the table, staring at the top of the staircase for a moment. 

"That was out of character..." I said after a moment, making Emira look up at me and raise an eyebrow. "For Luz anyways." My sister scoffed, rolling her eyes. 

"I honestly don't blame her for the sourpuss attitude." Emira said, turning her gaze back to the stairs. 

"Neither do I. Still, it'd just a little odd sounding." I muttered, getting off the table and heading towards the stairs, this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something else was up. I shook it away as I placed my hand on the handrail. "Anyways, now I'm gonna go get ready. You should too." 

"Alright, who are you and what did you do to my brother? Not procrastinating for once?" She laughed, leaning back in her chair. I let out a chuckle, going up the stairs. 

"Hey, your brother is still here, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited. I just want to get this show on the road already!" Emira got up and out of her seat as I bounded up the stairs, quickly going into my room and closing the door. 

I pressed my back against the door, a dopey smile on my face as I let out a laugh. With my ears flapping, I moved over to my closet and quickly started to sift through my shirts, trying to find something that would be good to wear. 

For a brief moment, I considered wearing something a little flashier, but I was quick to push it away. Instead, I settled for a maroon shirt that had a few buttons towards the top, which I left undone, and a dark pair of jeans and sneakers. Simple, but something better than casual. 

Glancing at my faint reflection in my window I scowled. My hair was still a mess, sticking out at odd angles. Going back over to my door, I threw it open and went to head into the bathroom to brush it, only to nearly slam into Amity. 

"Watch where you're going Ed!" She snapped at me, only making me chuckle and ruffle her hair, which sent a few water droplets through the air. Pushing me away, she headed back to her room and closed the door.

I hung off the door frame, swinging into the view of the mirror. Quickly grabbing the brush from the drawer, quickly running it through my hair to make it look like its usual style. 

Once I finally achieved the look I was going for, I set the brush down on the counter, eyeing myself in the mirror. Then, I shot myself a quick set of finger guns, clicking my tongue. "Looking sharp!" 

Spinning on my heel, I turned towards the door and pulled it open, finding Emira standing there. She wore a pair of black leggings and a dark purple hoodie with faded black text scrawled across the chest that read "The Abominations." 

"Wow, an old hoodie of ours. Classy Em, real classy." She chuckled, giving me a light punch to the shoulder. 

"Hey, it's not like it's a formal date night. It's just where we hang loose and relax, besides, the place we're going, I don't want to risk tearing some fancy clothes." I nodded my head, still eyeing the old hoodie for a moment. 

"True, still, you aren't really the type to wear a hoodie on a date night..." I trailed off, squinting for a minute before a light bulb went off. "Oh my gods no." 

"What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I placed my hands on her shoulders, softly shaking my head. 

"Em please, please tell me you aren't hoping to do that cliche and give Viney your sweater if she gets cold. Please don't tell me you're doing that." Emira's cheeks flushed a light pink, confirming my suspicions. 

"You know, you could've waited to call me out." She grumbled, shoving me out of the way to move in front of the mirror. 

"Oh you're right, I should've waited to call you out in front of your girlfriend. That would've been so much better." I taunted, making her roll her eyes. "Anyways, when are we leaving again?" 

"Impatient to meet up with your brown haired boyfriend?" She asked as she started to apply her eyeliner, making me scoff. I leaned against the door frame, folding my arms over my chest. 

"Not like you act any different with Viney." Emira finished applying her eyeliner, shooting me a cold glare before putting the makeup away. She moved towards me, giving me another light shove before leaning down the hallway. 

"Mittens! Luz! We're going!" She called, getting a quick okay from the two. "We'll have our scrolls!" She paused, then turned to me. "You do have your scroll, right?" I nodded my head, making her nod her's as well. "Yeah we'll have our scrolls! Give a ring if ya need anything!" 

Emira then spun on her heel, shoving her hands in her pockets and motioning with her head for me to follow her. The two of us quickly made our way downstairs and out the front door, the sun hanging high in the air. 

Instantly the warmth started beating down on us, almost making me laugh. Glancing over at my twin, I could see the look of discomfort on her face, but she didn't make any effort to take the jacket off. 

We walked in silence for a little bit, I shoved my hands in my pants pockets, lightly tapping my fingers against my thighs. "So where'd you tell them to meet us?" 

"Outskirts of the market." She said, taking one of her hands out of her hoodie pocket to lightly pull at the collar, then she patted her legging pockets before letting out a little sigh. "Thought I'd take Viney through and see if she wanted anything." 

"Wow, and you didn't tell me this for what? I would've grabbed my wallet before we left." Drawing a spell circle, I summoned my wallet, making it fall in the palm of my hand. Then, I shoved it in my back pocket. 

"Well why didn't you think of grabbing it?" Emira asked, her voice flaring up with a bit of annoyance. I scoffed, rolling my eyes before turning my gaze forward again. 

"Because you never told me what we're gonna do. You told me that you and Viney had a date, and she invited Jerbo so we could do a double date type of thing." I could hear Emira want to argue, but she hesitated, then said nothing.

Both of us fell into another bought of silence, quickly approaching the edge of the market. Up ahead, I could see the faint outline of two figures chatting. It took them a second, then one of them noticed the two of us, giving us an enthusiastic wave. 

I could hear Emira suck in a breath, and glancing over I could see her ears flapping slightly. "Eddy!" I turned forward again, only to be nearly taken down to the ground by Jerbo. 

He pulled me into a headlock, lightly running his knuckles over the top of my head, making the two of us laugh. "Let go of me!" I chuckled, seeing Viney jog up to the three of us out of the corner of my eye. 

Jerbo was quick to let go of me, spinning me around before placing both of his hands on the side of my face. Then, he gave me a quick kiss on the forehead before he let go of me. I took a step back with a laugh, feeling my ears lightly flapping. 

Now, I could finally get a good look at what the two were wearing. Viney was wearing a thick strapped grey tank top, which looked like it was torn at the bottom with a light brown flannel tied around her waist, the necklace that Emira got her a little while ago, and a pair of dark grey pants with tears in the knees. Jerbo wore a simple black t-shirt and jeans, but it looked like he was wearing some kind of steel toed shoes.

"How long were you two waiting here?" Emira asked, subtly trying to move closer to Viney. The beastkeeper glanced over at my sister, rolled her eyes, then quickly placed an arm over my sister's hip and pulled her close, making my twin squeak in surprise. 

"Not too long." Jerbo said, not hesitating to take his hand in mine, our fingers intertwining. I started doing small circles on his hand with my thumb, making him smile. "And hey, your guy's show was amazing!" The beastkeeper nodded her head, making the two of us smile. 

"So Emmy, what exactly did you have planned for today?" Viney asked, raising an eyebrow. Emira stammered for a minute, trying to correctly form a sentence before she quickly cleared her throat. 

"Secret stuff." She gave the beastkeeper a wink, making her ears go down. "But first, quick market trip! Get whatever you want, I'm paying. Then we can get a quick lunch or something." Viney chuckled, turning to my sister and rolling her eyes. 

"And why would I need that when I've got a perfectly good snack right here?" Emira's eyes went wide, a high pitched squeak escaping her lips while Viney laughed. I turned over the Jerbo, who side glanced at me for a moment before turning towards me. 

"Wanna head to the Snack Shack?" I asked, watching as his eyes lit up. 

"Wanna see who can eat the most of those horrible things they like to call cookies?" He asked in return, making me smirk. We both nodded, then I turned to the others, giving them a quick salute before darting off, Jerbo not too far behind me. 

I could hear Em and Viney call after us to not make ourselves sick, though they didn't get a response back. We entered the market and started weaving through the stands, laughing the entire time. 

We both got three of the 'cookies' and moved over to a bench, watching the witches that passed us by for a minute. "Alright alright, whoever loses has to... oh! They've gotta fix the path to our hideout!" 

"You act like that's some crummy chore." Jerbo leaned back on his free hand, resting the cookies on his lap. "Besides you know I could easily do it."

"Babe, I know." I said with a laugh, watching his cheeks go a dark pink. "But that was the only thing that came to mind. So unless you've got something worse than that..." I trailed off, watching as Jerbo's eyebrows furrowed together while he thought. There was a moment of silence, then he shook his head. 

The two of us looked down hesitantly at one of the purple cookies in our hands, clearly wondering if it was worth the bet. Beside me, I could hear Jerbo take a deep breath to steel himself, then he gave me a nudge. "Ready?" He asked, making me nod. "Okay then... on three. One, two, three."

Taking a bite, I resisted the urge to gag as the horrible mix of flavors spread across my tongue. Jerbo almost instantly blew up in a coughing fit, spitting out the piece in his mouth as he struggled to get the taste out of his mouth. 

I felt shivers travel up my spine and I quickly spit out the bit in my mouth, hating the taste it left behind. "Oh my gods we're so stupid..." I managed to say, sticking my tongue out of my mouth. 

"We are!" Jerbo hissed, his eyes brimming with tears. "What do they even put in these?" I shrugged, trying to rub the taste off of my tongue. While both of us were complaining and whimpering about the taste, my ears twitched when I heard the faint sound of two familiar voices. 

"What did you two do?" With my tongue still sticking out, I looked up to find a familiar pair of golden eyes. She glanced down at the purple circles in our laps, then grimaced. "Oh gods you guys didn't." 

"We did." Viney rolled her eyes as Jerbo managed to choke out his words, lightly rubbing his throat with his hand. Emira sighed, drawing a small spell before tossing the two of us a small, white breath mint. "Oh, thanks Emira." 

I quickly popped mine in my mouth, running across my tongue with a sigh. "Yeah thanks sis, you're a lifesaver." 

Emira scoffed, motioning for the two of us to get up. "I didn't want to listen to you whine about the taste." Viney chuckled, making my sister's ears twitch slightly. "So, anywhere else you guys want to go? I mean, we've got a bit of time to kill before we should get heading to the spot." 

She glanced up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun. I scoffed, folding my arms over my chest. "You're not supposed to look into the sun y'know? Geez Em, and you call yourself the better twin." Her head snapped around to face me, a glare glowing bright in her eyes. 

Viney placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from going over and smacking me upside the head. "Can it dumbass." She growled, slouching down. "You're lucky I don't go over there and jinx your face." 

"Hey!" Jerbo said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close. "You aren't allowed to mess up his cute face!" I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, my ears going down. 

"No, wait hey!" I stammered out, letting out a bit of a nervous laugh. "You're the one with the cute face here!" Jerbo struggled to muffle his laughter, but his flapping ears gave it away. 

"Wow, look at you Jerbo, getting all pink in the face!" Viney said, a taunting tone hidden in her voice. Turning back over to the two, I noticed Viney looking down at her scroll before she quickly put it away. 

Jerbo sighed, giving me a nudge as he rolled his eyes. "Not like you're any better V. Neither is your girlfriend, I mean, look at her right now." I glanced over at Em, who's cheeks were dusted a light red. 

The beastkeeper only rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at Jerbo before giving my sister's hand a squeeze. "Well..." Emira started, tapping a finger against her chin. "I don't really have a clue where we should go before we head off to the spot so... any ideas?" 

I shrugged, turning to the two previous troublemakers. "I'm down for anything really. Though, I say we should avoid our place. Wouldn't want to overwhelm Mittens and her Luz with our 'obnoxious' presence." Emira nodded her head, but she stifled a chuckle. 

Viney's eyes suddenly lit up, her ears barely flapping. "How bout we go to the griffin pens? We can see if they're letting any newbies try and do some training. You two haven't seen how funny it is when they start getting chased!" 

My boyfriend suddenly gasped, his eyes also lighting up. "Wait! Is..." He snapped his fingers a few times, trying to remember a name before he shot Viney a finger gun. "Is Gerald gonna be there today? He's hilarious to watch when he's trying to wrangle the griffins!" 

But, despite Jerbo's excitement, Viney shook her head. "Nah, in fact he left a few weeks ago. Something about some plans with some friends that needed his full time attention. Haven't heard from him since then." 

"What made him so entertaining?" Emira asked, making Viney shrug. 

"Mostly it was the fact that even after weeks of practice, he had no idea how to correctly restrain a griffin. Not even Puddles, which was weird since she's like, the easiest to practice with. Then again... she never wanted to be around him." Viney furrowed her eyebrows together, but I only shrugged. 

"Damn, shame we don't get to make fun of him." I shot a smirk to my sister, then shrugged again. "But hey, sounds entertaining enough, and we've got nothing better to do. So, lead the way!" Viney gave me a smile, then started to pull Emira along, Jerbo and I following after the couple. 

Almost instantly, I could hear Viney start to ramble to Emira about the griffins, Emira nodding her head every once and awhile. "Oh, and you guys will love the seats! Jerbo and I know the best spot to watch everything happen." She paused for a moment, glancing back at the two of us with a sly smirk on her face. "And I'll send you that photo later, I know you want it for blackmail." 

Instantly I tensed up, blinking a few times as I watched the two of them laugh. Jerbo grabbed my hand, giving it a tight squeeze. Turning over to look at him, I could see his ears were pinned down and his face going red. 

I couldn't help but chuckle a little, making him look over at me. "What are you laughing at?" He asked me, his voice a little higher than before. 

"Nothing, just your cute face." A low squeak came from him, his face darkening a few shades. He gave me a shove, though he kept our hands intertwined, struggling to stammer out a response. 

"It's not like you're any different right now!" He managed to say, which only made me smile wider. I shrugged, getting a little closer to his face, making his eyes widen. 

"You're right, I am red in the face." I knew that wasn't a lie, cause I could feel the faint burn on my cheeks. "However, you're gonna be at least twenty shades darker than me." Before he could give a response, I gave him a quick kiss on the lips, then started dragging him behind me to keep up with the others. 

It took a little while to make it to the griffin pens, but once we did, it didn't take long for us to get inside. Viney just had to give some tall black haired witch a wave, which made them smile, giving her a nod that we could go in. Glancing around, I could already see a few witches with a couple of the griffins, slowly trying to approach them. 

Viney let go of Emira's hand, saying something to her that I couldn't understand. "Jerbo! Show them the spot would ya?" She called out, making Jerbo nod. Emira walked over to the two of us, her hands shoved in her hoodie pockets. 

"What'd she say to you?" I asked, but Emira only shrugged her shoulders. 

"She wanted to go talk to the guy that let us in." She said, making me nod my head. Jerbo was quick to drag the two of us along, pulling us to a spot that was close to the center. 

All three of us got seats, Emira moving a little bit away from the two of us. Jerbo scooted a little closer to me, so I leaned my head on his shoulder. I could feel him tense up for a moment, then he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, holding me close. 

All three of us were quiet for a moment, our eyes following the few witches down trying to properly mount a griffin. I let out a snort as one of them tried to get close, only to instantly jump back when the griffin just went to stretch its wings. 

Jerbo gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Hey Ed?" I hummed, looking up at him to see he was side glancing at my sister. "Why is Em wearing a hoodie?" Letting out a snort, I tried to muffle my laughter so that Emira wouldn't be suspicious. 

"Three words for you, cold date cliche." 

"But Viney has her flannel..." Jerbo started to silently chuckle, his body shaking with laughter. While Jerbo and I were silently trying not to let a laugh slip, Viney slide on the bench until she was a couple of inches away from my sister, a bright smile on her face. 

"Sorry that took so long, haven't seen him in forever! And besides, I wanted to see who was all here today." She started to bounce her leg up and down, giving my sister a bright smile that made her ears flap. "What're you two laughing about?" 

"One of them down there." Jerbo quickly lied, still chuckling. Viney glanced down at the witches, then shrugged. 

The four of us stayed there for a bit, laughing at the beastkeepers and enjoying each other's presence. Jerbo and I were entertained by the witches down with the griffins, but Viney and Emira clearly weren't paying attention to what was happening down there. Rather, I noticed how both of them were red in the face, softly chuckling at whatever the other was saying. 

I felt my scroll buzz at one point, but I was too busy howling with laughter when one of the witches got bucked off a griffin's back to check what it was. 

Eventually, I could see Em turn to look at the sky out of the corner of my eye. "Oh shoot, guys we should get going." She said, making me lift my head off of Jerbo's shoulder. I looked up, seeing the sun slowly starting to sink in the sky.

I went to stand up, but was stopped when Jerbo grabbed my arm, holding me in place. "What-" I started, but was quickly cut off when he pulled me into a kiss, holding me there for a couple of seconds before pulling away. 

"Payback." He said, then started dragging me along to follow the others. I blinked a few times, noting how my feet were pretty much moving on their own. Placing a hand on my cheek, I could feel just how hot my face was burning. 

Shaking my head a few times, I pulled up my scroll, noticing how I had a message. Quickly typing in my code and unlocking my scroll, I pulled up my messages to find it was from Amity. 

"Look, I have no idea what your guy's plans are, but if you come home anytime soon, please just be quiet." She sent, making me furrow my eyebrows together.

"Why?" I hit send, glancing up ahead at Emira and Viney, noticing how Emira was pointing in Hexside's direction. My scroll buzzed again, regaining my attention. 

"It's Luz, her pain's spiked up so she's trying to sleep it off." There was a bit of a pause, then she sent another message. "So for once, can you two not be obnoxious for more than five minutes?" 

I chuckled, making Jerbo turn to look at me and raise an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything. "Sure thing Mittens, y'know, we may tease you guys a lot of the time, but we care." 

"Surprisingly." She quickly sent back, making me roll my eyes. 

"Oh har har." I sent back before shutting off my scroll, turning my gaze ahead of us. Viney suddenly spun around, walking backwards as she faced Jerbo and I. 

"Wanna race?" She asked both of us, making me laugh. 

"We don't even know where we're going." I pointed out, which only made Emira turn around to face us as well. 

"Better advantage for us then!" She said with a smirk on her face, making me roll my eyes. Drawing a quick spell, I made a quick spell to trip her. She flung her arms out in an attempt to keep her balance, smacking Viney in the face in the process before falling to the ground. 

Jerbo and I froze in place, listening to the broken string of quiet curses escaping Viney's mouth. Emira quickly sat back up, glaring at me before turning to Viney, her eyes widening. 

She was quick to get on her feet, the panic clear in her eyes as she frantically tried to apologize. Viney only laughed, but you could see the tears in her eyes. "Emmy it's fine don't worry!" She said, moving her hand from her face, revealing the bit of crimson dripping from under her nose. "Whoop, well that isn't." 

"Edric you asshole!" Emira hissed, glaring at me. I only shrugged, letting out a little scoff. 

"Hey, I wasn't the one that smacked Viney in the face, that was all on you." I started to laugh, which only made her even more angry. 

"It was funny seeing the look on your face." Viney said, drawing a small spell circle. She moved her hand away from her face again, which now didn't have any blood. "There, that's fixed. There isn't any blood on my clothes right?"

The beastkeeper pulled at her tank top a little, glancing it over before shrugging. Emira slowly walked over to me, the anger clear in her eyes even though she had a poker face. 

She stood in front of me, staring me down. I could feel my ears twitch, slowly going down as I tried to not look away. Then, with no warning, she gave me a sharp punch to the gut, nearly making me double over. 

I held onto Jerbo to keep me from crumpling to the ground, letting out a small hiss of pain. Emira didn't say anything, rather, she spun on her heel and went back over to Viney. "Pull yourself together, we've gotta get going otherwise we'll miss it." 

"Love you too sis." I managed to say, making Jerbo laugh. Trying to stand up, I stuck close to Jerbo's side so I had someone to lean on as we followed the others. A few minutes later, I was able to walk on my own, but I didn't move away from him, rather, I just took a hold of his hand. 

After a bit of walking, I saw us pass by Hexside, making me raise an eyebrow. "Alright seriously Em, where are we heading?" I asked, making her turn around to face me for a moment before turning back forward.

"You'll see soon enough." She told me, making Viney look at her for a moment before back at the two of us. 

"Hey don't worry, I don't have a clue where we're going either." I smiled, then slowly leaned in closer to Jerbo. 

"Watch, they're taking us to some secret part of the woods to murder us." He chuckled, softly shaking his head as he gave my hand a squeeze. 

"I doubt that." He said, only making me shrug. 

"Honestly I'm surprise Emira hasn't done it to me yet." I said, glancing up at my twin for a moment before turning back to him. "If I ever go missing, assume her as the first suspect." 

"I'll keep that in mind then." He said with a chuckle giving my hand another tight squeeze. "Though, I doubt she'll be the one to kill you first." 

"What makes you say that?" I asked, watching as he turned his gaze ahead to the others for a moment before back to me, his cheeks dusted with a light pink blush. 

"Because, you've still got your younger sister. And, you have me." Then, he gave me a quick kiss on the nose, the heat instantly rising back up to my face. I gave him a shove, trying to stop my ears from flapping. 

Then, there was a sudden flash, making both of us snap our heads forward. "No keep going! This is fun getting blackmail on you for once Ed." Emira said, an evil smirk plastered on her lips. 

My eyes widened, then I let go of Jerbo's hand, darting over to Emira to try and pry her scroll out of her hands. "Don't you dare send that to Mittens!" I hissed, which only made her laugh. 

"Your voice is so high pitched right now!" She told me with a laugh, making her scroll disappear before I could grab it. "And besides, I'm not planning on sending it to her. At least, not right now." 

"Emira so help me-" I gave her a shove, making her stumble slightly. "Delete it!" My twin pretended to think about it for a minute, then shook her head. 

"Nah, I don't think I will. Welcome to the blackmail club Ed!" She told me with a smile, then she turned around. "Now come on! We're almost there!" 

Jerbo slowly walked up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I let out a low growl, balling my hands into tight fists for a moment. "I am so getting double the amount of blackmail on her." I said, making him snort. 

The four of us eventually made it to a wide area that was clear of almost all trees except one, which was a tree with nice pink petals, a few floating to the ground. The area was surrounded by a cliff, but it would give us a great view of the sunset. 

"This place is familiar..." I muttered, that's when it hit me. "Wait, Em isn't this Mittens' little grom tree?" She laughed, giving me a nod. 

"Though I'd hardly call that tree little..." Jerbo mumbled, looking up at the top of the tree before letting out a whistle. "Honestly this is impressive. Just... wow."

"Damn right it is. Then again, it's a tree made with gay energy." I said, making everyone laugh. "Honestly I wish we got a photo of Mittens here but that's besides the point, what are we doing here?" 

"Well, it's got a perfect view of the sunset, so I figured that we scale this thing and watch it." Emira said, slowly turning her gaze from me and Jerbo to Viney, then back to us. I moved closer to the tree, running my hand over the bark. 

"What if I just carved my name into It? Hey, I'll even make it romantic and carve Jerbo's name in with it. You don't think Mittens would kill me for that right?" I said, earning me a quick smack to the back of my head from Emira. "Hey I was just kidding!" I yelped, making her roll her eyes. 

"You better hope that you were." She hissed, then turned to the others. "Now, we should probably get up there otherwise we're gonna miss it." Once she said that, I wrapped my arms around the tree and slowly started to shimmy myself up. Jerbo copied my actions, but Viney and Emira only watched. 

"You two are gonna fall!" Viney called out to us, making me scoff. 

"Bet!" I called back down, but once I did, Jerbo let out a yell and fell to the ground in a heap. "Oh gods... you okay babe?" He gave a shaky thumbs up, quickly picking himself up off the ground and dusting himself off. 

Emira just shook her head, casting a spell before she started to float off of the ground and up into the air, Viney soon doing the same. "Just float yourselves up before you fall and break your neck." She said as she floated past me. 

"Where's the fun in that?" I asked, watching the two of them float up a little higher before I dropped down from the tree. Moving over to Jerbo, I watched as he rubbed his lower back with a grimace. 

That allowed an idea to spark in my head, a mischievous smile instantly spreading across my lips. He looked over at me, his eyes widening slightly. "Edric, what are you thinking?" 

I didn't give him an answer, rather, before he could say anything else, I quickly scooped him up and drew a spell to float us up with Em and Viney. He let out a sound of surprise, wrapping one arm around my neck while the other hovered awkwardly in the air. Then, to top it off, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

"Can't let you fall for a second time." I told him, hearing the nervous chuckle rise up from his throat. 

"Not even for you?" He asked, stammering slightly. I felt my ears go down, but I tried not to let it show on my face, but I could tell he noticed. "There, now we're both red." He leaned his head on my shoulder, waiting for the two of us to get to the top. 

It didn't take long, but by the time we both got up there, Viney and Emira were already comfortable on a branch, their hair lightly tousled. "Took you two long enough." Emira said with a smile, folding her arms over her chest. "What? Were you two sharing a quick kiss before you got up here?" 

I rolled my eyes, carefully deactivating the spell and setting Jerbo down. "Not like you two are any better." I watched as Viney's ears went down, a pink blush spreading across her cheeks. However, Emira scoffed. 

"Where's your proof?" She asked me with a smirk, folding her arms over her chest. I laughed, leaning against part of the tree. 

"Oh I don't have much, just the fact both of your guy's hair is tousled. Like, hands in hair tousled." Emira's eyes widened, realizing that I caught her in the lie. I didn't say anything else and plopped down on mine and Jerbo's branch, frowning slightly. "Look at that, a perfect view of the leaves." 

"Hang on..." Jerbo drew a spell, carefully parting the leaves out of our vision. "There! How's that look for you guys?" Both of them gave Jerbo a thumbs up, making him smile. He then sat down next to me, leaving barely any space between us. I wrapped a hand around his waist, leaning my head onto his shoulder. 

The sun was starting to sink over the ocean, casting the sky in a shower of golden orange light. I could hear Jerbo let out a soft, content sound, leaning his head on top of mine. To our right, I could hear Emira and Viney whispering to one another, but I didn't pay them any mind. 

"Em wasn't lying when she said this is the perfect view of the sunset." I finally said, my voice no louder than a whisper. It honestly was a really nice view. Jerbo nodded, not saying anything. "Hey wait..." I pulled away from him a bit, making him get off of me and tilt his head in confusion. "How bout we do that stupid cliche where we kiss while the sun's setting?" 

Jerbo started to chuckle, a few small snorts escaping him. "I thought you hated cliches though?" He said, pausing his fit of laughter for a moment before it started up again. I shook my head, chuckling softly as well. 

"I never said I hated them. I just think they're kinda funny. Especially when Em or Mittens tries to do one." Jerbo laughed again, stretching his arms out in front of him. 

"Why's that?" He asked me, pulling his hands closer to his body before he started to pop his fingers. 

"Because they get really red in the face." I said, watching as his eyes darted from my eyes for a moment, then a smirk rose to his lips. 

"It doesn't look like you're any better." He pointed out, making my eyes widen slightly. I let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand while I leaned the other against the branch. 

"Never said I was..." I trailed off when he placed his hands on my shoulders, his brown eyes meeting with mine. I froze up, but I refused to let the panic show on my face. He glanced over at the sunset for a moment, then back to me. 

Then, he slowly leaned in until his lips met mine, instantly filling my chest with that light, fluttering feeling. We stayed like this for a moment, then we both pulled away, taking a few deep breaths before laughing. 

"We should do cliches more often." He finally said, still chuckling. I gave him a light shove, making sure not to push him too hard and accidentally send him out of the tree. 

"Depends on the cliche you dork." I said, making him nod his head. He placed his hand down on the branch, my eyes glancing up at his face for a moment before I placed my hand over top of his. We both fell into a comfortable silence, watching the sun set the rest of the way, the sky slowly turning darker and darker. 

It was peaceful. 

"Emira!" Viney's voice suddenly cut through the silence, making the two of us jump. Leaning over, I saw Emira hanging onto the branch for dear life, the panic in her eyes clear even in the dark. 

I stared at the two for a moment, then turned to Jerbo. "Welp, the peace was nice. But, I guess that means it's time to start heading back." I turned back to Emira, furrowing my eyebrows together. "How'd you even manage to do that?" 

"Edric not now!" She said, trying to pull herself back up before slipping again. 

The four of us eventually made it back down to the ground, thankfully all in one piece. Once we did make it back down to the ground, I noticed that now Viney was wearing Emira's hoodie, and Emira had Viney's flannel thrown over her shoulder. 

I didn't say anything to the two, rather, I just took Jerbo by the hand and started to walk back in the direction of the market, hearing Viney and Emira's voices not too far behind us. We didn't say anything to one another, but it wasn't uncomfortable. 

A little before we made it to the market, I could see him perk up. "Hey wait Eddy? When's your guy's next concert?" I froze up for a moment, wracking my brain for an answer. 

"Uh... I think a few months from now? Not really anytime soon." He nodded his head, lightly swinging our hands. I stared at him for a moment, then turned my gaze back ahead of us, seeing the outline of the market coming into view. 

"I'll have to see if I can get tickets then..." I could hear him mumble, making me laugh. 

"There's no saying I'll be on stage by then. Luz might be ready to jump back into the action by then." He nodded his head again, then turned to me, shrugging his shoulders. 

"Still doesn't mean I can't go see you guys perform. And besides, it'd be fun." He said with a lopsided smile, making me smile as well. 

"True." I looked forward again, letting out a small sigh. "Well, looks like this is where you have to go." Jerbo looked over at the market, then back at me. I stared at him for a moment, then gave him another kiss, feeling him squeeze my hand a little tighter. 

Before he could pull away, I smirked, drawing a quick spell before pressing my finger against his stomach, shocking him. He let out a yelp and pulled away, looking down at my sparking hand. "Edric!" I laughed, then quickly started to back away. 

"Oh would you look at that! You're too far away to get back at me, such a shame... looks like you're gonna have to do it next time!" I then blew him a kiss, watching his eyes widen. "Love you!" 

I spun around on my heel, gave him a little salute, then started to walk in the direction of our house. I passed by Em and Viney, who had their foreheads pressed together while soft chuckles escaped the two of them. I paused in my tracks, staring at the two for a moment before chuckling. 

"Em are you coming?" I asked after a minute, watching as my twin jumped. She turned to me, then back to Viney, giving her a quick kiss on the nose that left her ears flapping before she took a step back, saying goodbye. 

The two of us started to head home, not saying anything to each other for a bit. "So, is now the time to ask why you nearly fell out of the tree?" Emira groaned in annoyance, turning towards me. 

"Does it really matter?" I nodded my head, making her sigh. "My grip slipped." 

"Wow. Smooth Em, really smooth." She gave me a shove, not saying anything else. "Hey you've gotta admit it was kinda funny!" 

"Not funny when your life flashes before your eyes..." She said, only making me laugh. I could see her glare at me, but it was quickly dropped. We fell quiet again for a moment, then she spoke up. "What'cha think Mittens and Luz are doing right now?" 

I shrugged, shoving my hands in my pockets. "Probably sleeping." I thought about it for a moment, then an idea came to mind. "Hey, wanna see if we can convince Mittens to let Luz hang out at the studio tomorrow?" 

"Do you really think that's possible?" She asked back, making me shrug again. 

"You never know. But, if we do manage to convince her, let's see if the rest of the band can make it. We can all just hang out and goof off for a bit. Give Luz a good time after everything that's happened." Emira smiled, then gave my shoulder a soft punch. 

"Surprisingly good plan Ed." She told me, making me roll my eyes and lightly shake my head. "So, you ready to convince her by using a bit of Blight charm?" 

"You act like I'm never ready to!" I said, giving her shoulder a light punch as well. "But, before we do that, I'll race you home, whoever wins gets twenty-five snails!" 

"You've really got to stop betting snails Ed..." She told me, then roughly shoved me aside as she started running. "Cause you know damn well I'm gonna win!" 

"Hey!" I called back in an irritated tone, already tearing off after her, determined to win.


	27. Heart attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've gotta remember folks, this is the Boiling Isles, nothing works the way it should 
> 
> Not even blood

Luz POV: 

I woke up, but I didn't open my eyes. My body felt warm all over, and I could hear the soft sound of Amity's heart thumping in my ears, mixed with the sound of her humming. She had an arm wrapped around my shoulders, softly rubbing my upper arm. It was almost enough to lull me back to sleep. 

Then, a pain shot up my side, ruining the moment. Letting out a low hiss, I gritted my teeth. Amity gave my arm a little squeeze, her humming pausing for a moment. "Morning." She said softly, making me open my eyes. 

Blinking a few times to clear my cloudy vision, I stretched my free arm out, finding that the other one was trapped under Amity. Glancing the witch, I found she was reading some kind of book, and beside her, floating in the air was a piece of paper and a pen, quickly scribbling down notes. 

"Morning cariño. You're comfy..." I croaked out in a husky voice, nuzzling a little closer to the witch. She stiffened up slightly, then quickly loosened up, flipping a page in her book. "How long have you been up?" I asked, closing my eyes. 

"A little while now." She said, her eyes darting across the page. "Didn't want to move and wake you though..." I hummed in response, opening my eyes once again. "How are you feeling?" She asked in return, making me shrug. Outside the door, I could hear the muffled sound of Edric and Emira's voices, their footsteps moving by Amity's door before going away. 

"Better." I muttered, focusing on the book in Amity's hand. Squinting my eyes, I struggled to read the words. "At least, better than yesterday." I paused for a moment, noticing how Amity's ears twitched. "What're you reading?"

"That's good. And I'm just reading something I had Em get me from the owl lady." Amity mumbled, sticking out her tongue slightly as she furrowed her eyebrows together. "How would you say that?" She asked, her voice so soft that I almost didn't hear her. 

"Say what?" I asked, picking my head up off of her shoulder for a moment to get a better look at her book. "¿A dónde vas?" I read, my eyes widening. "Wait hold on, is that a book about Spanish?" Excitement quickly rose in my voice, making Amity squeak. 

She slammed the book shut, making it quickly disappear along with the pen and paper taking notes while she let out a set of nervous chuckles. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" She said, giving my arm a squeeze. 

"No no no, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" I said, watching as she got red in the face. "Are you trying to learn Spanish?" Sitting up a little, I stared at the golden eyed witch, watching as she struggled to find her words. 

"Maybe?" She finally squeaked out, then she put a hand on the side of my face, lightly shoving me away while I laughed. "But you have no proof of anything!" Her voice squeaked as her ears went down. 

"Oh sure I don't~" I teased, laying back down on her shoulder. "In fact, I've already forgotten what we're talking about." I knew my statement made Amity roll her eyes, but she let out a little chuckle. The fact she was trying to learn Spanish left a warm feeling in my chest, slowly spreading across my body.

"Whatever you say Luz." She mumbled, starting to run her fingers through my hair. The contact made me melt at her touch, a content hum rising up from my throat as I closed my eyes. There was a bit of silence, then I heard Amity snort. "Looks like humans can purr too." 

"Huh?" I sat up, noticing the teal haired witch's soft smile. "I'm just humming." I said, feeling a bit of heat rising to my cheeks 

"Are you sure? Cause that sounded a lot like purring." Amity teased, making me roll my eyes and give her a light shove that only made her laugh. 

"Yes I'm sure. Humans don't purr like you guys." I could hear the light waver in my voice, but I ignored it. "At least... last I checked we don't do that..." 

"I'll take your word for it." She said, but I could tell that the look on her face said otherwise. I went to say something else, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something propped up against the wall by her window. I turned to look at it, finding a familiar staff leaning there. 

"Why's Owlbert here?" I asked, jabbing a thumb in the staff's direction. Amity's eyes flicked over to the staff, then back to me, shrugging her shoulders. 

"Eda sent him here last night while you were asleep. Wanted him to be here to help you out, at least, that's what her letter said." Amity said, which only made me chuckle. 

"What? Does she not trust you?" Amity shrugged again, turning back over to the staff. "Hey, well at least now I won't have to lean against you! Now, I've got a walking stick! Or... well walking staff." 

"It's not like I mind you leaning against me." I heard the witch say, making me perk up. I scoffed, lightly waving away her comment. 

"C'mon, I'm practically dead weight when I'm leaning against you." I watched as the witch shook her head. I went to argue with her, but I turned too sharply, sending a fresh jolt of pain up my side. 

I clenched my teeth together, struggling not to cry out in pain. Amity caught onto my actions, sitting up and placing a hand gently on my shoulder, giving me a look that asked if I was okay. The pain mixed with a sudden pressure in my chest, making it hard to breathe for a moment. After a couple of seconds, I let out a long exhale through my nose, moving my hand away from my side and bringing it up to rub my chest. 

Shifting, I moved my arm out from where Amity was laying, feeling the painful kind of tingle travel up my arm as I felt it start to regain circulation. "I'm fine." I finally said, giving Amity a strained smile. I knew by the look in her eyes that she could see how my smile was, but she didn't say anything about it. 

"You need to be careful." She told me, taking her hand off my shoulder and using it to cup my cheek. I leaned into her touch, closing my eyes and letting out a sigh. "Otherwise you'll never get better." 

"I know..." I said, opening my eyes to stare into her golden ones. They were soft, laced with both care and concern, staring into them made my eyes flutter for a moment. "But hey, you know what helps me heal faster?" 

"What?" She asked, her lips tugging up into the ghost of a smile. 

"A kiss." I managed to say without my voice wavering, but I wasn't able to stop the heat from rising up to my cheeks. Amity's breathing hitched for a moment, a bright red blush spreading across her cheeks, then to her ears as they slowly went down. 

For a moment, there was silence, then she let out a soft chuckle. "You really are my dork, aren't you?" She asked, leaning forward before giving me a kiss on the forehead. And as if on cue, there were two sudden loud whistles, making Amity pull away before turning to face the door so fast she was a blur. 

There, leaning in the door frame that they somehow managed to open without making a sound, were Edric and Emira. "Took you long enough Mittens!" Emira said with a smirk before turning to her brother. "And that means you owe me seventy-five snails." 

"Edric! Emira!" Amity yelled, her voice high pitched and squeaky, her body frozen in place. The heat on my cheeks that was there before spiked up to match the heat of a bonfire, leaving me completely speechless. However, the twins ignored their younger sister, Edric slouching forward with a sigh. 

"Honestly Mittens, I didn't think you had it in you to confess." Edric said, slowly rolling his gaze over to his twin. "And I'll get you your snails later." 

"Confess?" I managed to find my voice and squeak out, making the twins turn to me, raising an eyebrow. Their eyes moved to Amity, then back to me, then to each other. 

"Isn't that... what's going on here?" Edric asked with half a chuckle and a nervous smile, pointing a finger at the two of us. "I mean, Mittens ain't the type to show affection like that platonically so..." His eyes widened, then he let out a shocked gasp. "Unless you two were a thing before this!" 

I could see Amity struggle to speak, her words only coming out as broken sputters, confirming what the siblings were thinking. "Now hold on, how long?! Mittens you've been hiding your relationship too?" Emira said, and I could see Edric's expression falter. 

He gave Emira a quick jab to the ribs, making her wince. Amity shot up out of bed, quickly stomping over to her siblings and trying to shove them out the door. "Get out of my room!" She managed to squeak, but her siblings gave her a light shove back, putting themselves back in the doorway. 

"No hold on, you can't just shove us out the door like this!" Emira laughed, ruffling Amity's hair. "At least, not without answers! Who confessed first?" She asked, only making Amity squeak, her hands clasped in tight fists at her sides. 

Slowly, I meekly raised my hand up, catching the twins attention. Edric's face lit up while Emira's dropped. "Oh my gods yes!" Edric shouted, making me flinch slightly. "I win the bet! I told you I'd win Em!" 

"You two made bets?" Amity said, her voice laced clearly with annoyance. I could see Emira's ears twitch, side glaring at her brother before she let out a sigh. 

"Didn't think I'd lose one hundred fifty snails today... or ever." She muttered bitterly, which only made Edric laugh. I thought about the numbers for a moment, then I furrowed my eyebrows together. 

"You bet one hundred fifty while he only bet seventy-five?" I asked the witches, silently questioning if Emira bet so high because she was confident she wouldn't lose. Emira shook her head. 

"No, I bet seventy-five too. I just owe him and Boscha now." I watched as Amity brought her hands up to the sides of her head, rubbing her temples. 

"Of course Boscha would bet with you guys..." I heard her mumble, making her brother laugh. 

"Why wouldn't she bet with us? Also, Mittens you should thank your girlfriend, she just made your brother seventy-five snails richer!" He went to ruffle Amity's hair, but she slapped his hand away. 

"Great, cool, I don't care, you got your answers now get out!" Amity said quickly, giving them another rough shove. Her siblings only chuckled, Emira placing a hand on her head to get her to stop. 

"We haven't gotten all of our answers!" Edric said, but that made Amity growl, and even from where I was sitting I could see her face was flushed red. He hesitated for a minute, then shook his head. "Fine fine, we'll stop prying for answers... for now." He said with a smirk, almost making me laugh. 

"But, before we go, the real reason why we're up here!" Emira drew a spell circle, a small pile of clothes appearing in her hands. "Luz! Catch!" She tossed them in my direction, which I managed to fumble for a moment before catching. "Figured you want to change, and you're too lanky for Mittens' clothes so here." 

"Thanks." I said with a smile, glancing over the clothes she threw at me. It was a simple grey turtleneck and dark blue sweatpants with a white stripe on the side of each leg.

She gave me a quick wink, clicking her tongue a couple of times before turning her gaze back down to her sister. "Another thing, only if you're up to it that is." Emira pointed towards me, but she didn't look up at me. "Ed and I were planning to go meet up with Skara and Boscha at the studio to hang out." 

"So if you guys wanna drop by, feel free!" Edric shot us a set of finger guns, then glanced up at me. "But hey, don't push yourself to come alright?" I nodded my head, making him smile. 

"Great, now see you two around!" Emira and Edric gave me both a wave, then I could see Emira give her twin a nudge, a smug smirk on her face. She bent down, moving close to Amity's ear before whispering something, glancing up at me for a fraction of a second. 

Amity practically jumped back from her sister, her eyes wide and her face a dark shade of crimson. Emira let out a loud, barking laugh, ruffling Amity's hair one last time before leaving, Edric following close behind her. 

The teal haired witch stood frozen in her spot for a moment, then she shook her head. Moving over to her door, she flipped off her siblings before slamming the door shut. The sound made me jump, but I was quick to cover it. Amity then spun around on her heel, her cheeks puffed out and her face still red as she moved back over to me, taking a seat next to me. 

I chuckled slightly, giving the witch a nudge. "Well, looks like we got caught." She rolled her eyes, then laid down on her bed, placing her hands over her face. 

"And of course, we were caught by my siblings, of all witches." She groaned, running her hands down her face before flopping them out to her sides, staring up at the ceiling. "Just perfect." 

Staring at the witch for a moment, I slowly laid back until I was next to her, surprisingly I didn't aggravate my side. "Well, what's the worst thing they're gonna do?" I asked her with a smile, making her sigh. 

"Only tease us at any given chance they'll get. Gods we're never gonna hear the end of it. That or they'll try to get a photo." She mumbled as she turned to look at me. Like this, I could clearly see the dark bags that hung under her eyes, making me fall quiet. "Luz? You okay? You've got this look." She suddenly said, making me realize that I was staring. 

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine! Just noticed how tired you looked..." I trailed off with a nervous laugh, making Amity's ears twitch. She brought a hand up to her face, her finger gently pulling at the skin under her eyes before she shook her head, letting out a laugh that matched mine. 

"Yeah... last night was a bit of a long night..." I could hear her mumble, making a trickle of guilt flood my mind. Amity tensed up for a moment, quickly turning back over to me. "That wasn't your fault by the way! I was just... struggling to sleep is all." 

I softly nodded my head, making Amity look away. She let out a little sigh, then sat up, stretching her arms over her head before standing up and heading over to her closet. Slowly sitting up, I watched the youngest Blight as she quickly flicked through her closet, her eyes quickly scanning over shirts. 

After a minute, she decided on a white shirt with four eyeballs on the front, each of them connected together by a line to make the shape of a diamond and a simple pair of jeans. 

"I'm gonna go change, be back." She gave me a small wave, moving over to the door and leaving the room, closing the door behind her. I stared at the door for a moment, feeling my hand twitch. 

I took my eyes off the door, then moved it back down to the clothes Emira gave me earlier. "I should probably do the same..." I mumbled, grabbing the bottom of my shirt.

It wasn't the easiest to change into the new clothes, it was more like a game to see how much I could handle the pain in my side before I had to stop and squeeze my eyes shut. But after a couple of minutes, I managed to successfully change. 

The turtleneck was soft, making me smile as I softly rubbed the fabric between my fingers. "I should get myself one of these." I said to myself with a chuckle, which quickly died when I felt another prick of pain in my chest. 

Biting my lip to stifle the sound of pain, I brought a hand up to my chest, rubbing small circles with the heel of my hand. The burning pain lasted a little longer than it usually did, blurring my vision slightly. Honestly I didn't understand why the pain in my chest was becoming more frequent, but I was hoping it'd go away soon.

Closing my eyes, I tried to breathe through it, remembering how that helped last night. Taking a deep breath, I let it out as a short gasp when I heard a few knocks at the door. "Luz? Can I come in?" I relaxed when I realized it was only Amity's voice. 

"I mean, it is your room so, yeah you can." I responded, hearing her sigh on the other side of the door before she opened it. She walked in, dressed in the clothes she took with her. I gave her a smile, but I could see her eyes flick down to my hand rubbing my chest, a hint of concern filling her eyes. 

"What's up?" She asked me, quickly walking over. I moved my hand down to my side, giving her a little shrug. 

"I just moved too sharply or something, that's all. Don't worry too much Ammy." Her ears twitched slightly at the nickname, but the usual red blush didn't rise to her cheeks. She didn't say anything for a moment, letting us fall into a bit of silence, one that I quickly decided to break. "Hey, how bout we take your siblings up on that offer to go to the studio?" 

Amity's eyebrows furrowed together, her eyes going cold. "You should be resting." She told me, making me roll my eyes and lightly boop her nose. 

"I know, but I want to go see the others! And besides, I could easily do that at the studio. After all, there's the cot and the bean bag chairs!" I said, noticing how Amity's expression didn't soften. 

"You could also just as easily do that here." The teal haired witch pointed out. I put on a pout, watching as Amity's eyes widened. "Don't you dare."

"Please Ammy?" I put on my best set of puppy eyes, clasping my hands together. Amity turned away from me, folding her arms over her chest in an attempt to deflect my pleas. "Look, what if I promise you I won't do anything too crazy. I'll just hang out in the main room on a chair, how does that sound?"

She glanced over at me, squinted her eyes slightly before she huffed. "Let me guess, you won't stop bugging me until I say you can go, will you?" I shook my head a couple of times, making the witch's lips form a tight, thin line. Then, she sighed. "I swear to the gods, you have some kind of magic force that's making it easy for me to give in."

"That magic force is called the power of love darling!" I chirped, noticing a pale blush now slowly creeping up her cheeks. "And I've only got one other kind of magic besides that, the glyphs!" Amity rolled her eyes, giving me a look. 

"Yeah, well last I checked, you weren't able to do mind spells with your glyphs, right?" I shook my head, making her smirk. "That's what I thought." 

Amity stood up, stretching her arms above her head. I went to follow her actions, but she placed a hand on my shoulder to keep me down. I looked up at her, raising an eyebrow at her actions. 

Instead of saying anything, she moved over to the wall and carefully grabbed Owlbert, moving back over to me to pass him over to me. I gave her a smile, taking the staff from her hands. 

Tapping the staff against the ground, I tightly gripped it with both hands before slowly standing up. A bit of dull pain shot through my side, but I gritted my teeth and ignored it. 

Letting out a chuckle, I shifted until most of my weight could be balanced on the staff. "Thanks Amity. Now, let's get outside so we can hitch a ride to the studio." I jabbed a thumb towards Amity's window, but Amity instantly took a hold of the staff. 

"Are you out of your mind?! We are not flying to the studio!" She hissed, making me sigh. 

"And why not?" I asked, a little surprised at the hint of irritation in my voice. "After all, it would be faster than walking..." Amity let go of the staff, her arms slumping down at her sides before she brought one up to rub the bridge of her nose. 

"Need I remind you, you can barely walk. Tell me, how do you think flying is going to go?" She asked me. I mulled it over for a moment, trying to remember how well my flying skills were. 

"Okay fine, we won't fly to the studio." I grumbled, furrowing my eyebrows together for a moment before putting on a smile. "But hey, that leaves more time for some conversation!" 

Amity smiled back, then slowly started walking to her door, slipping on a quick pair of shoes. She glanced back at me, then drew a small spell before I felt shoes appear on my feet. "Alright, let's get going." 

The two of us made it out the door and on the path to the studio, our pace slow. Amity stuck close to my side, just in case I needed her. My footing was shaky and I was starting to feel lightheaded, but I struggled not to let it show. 

Our conversation drifted from topic to topic, first about Azura, both the book series and the fanfiction, then we moved onto band topics. I started to gush about their last show, wishing I could use more hand motions while I talked, but couldn't because I had both hands wrapped around the staff. 

"And the fact your voice got all distorted for that song was so cool!" Amity chuckled, her ears lightly flapping up and down. "You never did that at practice! Was it something new you threw in?" 

"No, it's always there for that song." The witch told me, brushing a bit of her hair behind her ear. "I just never use it in practice. If I did, it'd wear out my voice." 

I nodded my head, looking up ahead for a moment to see the outline of the studio building. "Makes sense." I muttered, then quickly gasped. "That reminds me! I never asked about that other song!" 

"What other song?" Amity's voice held a bit of hesitation, her ears slowly moving down. I blinked a few times, then let out a laugh. 

"The last one. Y'know, the super secret song you wouldn't tell me almost anything about?" The teal haired witch's eyes widened, but only for a moment before she turned her gaze back up ahead, making me do the same. 

We weren't too far away from the studio now, which was a relief. "What do you want to ask?" Her voice was quiet, barely able to cover up the waver in her tone. 

Instantly, a bunch of different questions came to mind, some small, others like large glaring lights. What was the song really about? Why the one specific blood effect? Why was Amity the only one crying on stage?

Then, there was the other question. The loudest one of them all. 

Was the song about what I thought it was? 

I wanted to say it wasn't, that it was just a sad song Amity had pushed to the side because it wasn't like the other songs. Part of me wanted to believe that, but that part of me knew there was something more, something that was more recent. 

After all, why else would that seem so familiar? 

Opening my mouth to ask my first question as we approached the studio door, I accidentally rubbed my arm against my side, quickly shutting me up. I let out a bit of a choked squeak, my hands gripping tightly around the staff until my knuckles turned white. 

Amity paused along with me, the fear flickering in her eyes. "Are you sure you can handle coming here this soon? I know you said you'd rest here, but still..." I nodded my head, shifting my grip on Owlbert. 

"Ammy... I've got nothing better to do, and this way I'll still be in contact with the others." I said, shaking my head a couple of times to distract myself from the pain. "And besides, it's not like I plan to do anything to strain myself, right? And you'll be right here with me!"

I let go of the staff with one hand, wincing slightly when another familiar prick of pain rose in my chest once again. Quickly giving Amity a smile, I rubbed my chest, struggling to keep my smile from looking forced. 

"Now c'mon! Let's get going inside." I said, going to grab the door handle before Amity gently took a hold of my wrist, making me freeze up. Turning to look at her, I watched as her eyes quickly darted over my features, both of them filled with concern. 

"Are you sure you're okay Luz?" She asked me, giving my wrist a light squeeze. "You're rubbing your chest again like you were last night, and you're starting to look pale. What's wrong?" 

My breathing hitched as the pain in my chest got worse. I closed my eyes, leaning a lot more on the staff than I was before. The pain turned into an uncomfortable burning sensation, making me grimace. 

Waiting a couple of seconds, I finally took a deep breath, pushing down the pain as I opened my eyes. "I promise you, I'm fine Amity. It's probably heartburn or a pinched nerve or something." I said, giving my hand a few waves. "Hopefully just heartburn though, from what I've heard, a pinched nerve really hurts." 

I was hoping my remark would make Amity smile, maybe even chuckle, but it didn't. She stared at me for a moment, her eyes surprisingly a little glossy. Then, she lightly shook her head, blinking her eyes a few times before letting go of my wrist, now bringing a hand up to my face. 

"You'll tell me if it gets worse, right?" She asked me softly, her ears twitching slightly. "I just don't want you to end up hurt again." Her voice fell a little quieter, but I just smiled. 

Slinging my free arm over her shoulder, I gave her a little shake, hearing a squeak escape her lips. "Of course I will. After all, I wouldn't want to worry you any more than I already have Mittens." 

Quickly, a bright red blush traveled over Amity's face, spreading over her ears before weighing them down. She didn't say anything, rather, she opened the studio's front door and slowly lead us inside, allowing me to use her as a crutch along with Owlbert. 

Inside the studio, I could hear the sound of Edric and Emira's voices, their laughter echoing from down the hall. From the sound of it, they were in the recording room. 

The two of us slowly started walking in that direction, a smile on both of our faces. Then, there was the sudden loud sound of Edric's drums, a few beats ringing out that made me freeze in place. 

I dropped the staff at the sound, Owlbert hitting the floor with a few loud thunks, bouncing slightly on the ground before rolling a little away, but I couldn't focus on that. It was the sound, why did it remind me so much of what happened?

No. That was over, it had already happened, it wasn't happening again. I couldn't think about that right now. It was just the sound of the drums, that doesn't sound like a gunshot, so why am I feeling like this? I shook my head a couple of times, now noticing that I was shaking. 

Amity's arms were wrapped carefully around me, anchoring me to her. I didn't want to move, and even if I wanted to, I felt like I couldn't. I could hear Amity say something, maybe it was my name, maybe it was a question, but her voice sounded so muffed that I couldn't understand what she was saying. 

The youngest Blight looked up at me, then slowly started to guide me over to a bean bag chair, still talking to me. She slowly and carefully lowered me down into the chair before crouching down in front of me. I looked down, watching as my vision blurred.

She paused what she was saying for a moment, then, slowly she reached her hands out for mine, making sure I could see them the entire time. Her hands took a hold of mine, her thumbs running over my knuckles. 

I took in a deep, albeit shaky breath, flicking my gaze up to meet her's. "Hey..." She said, her voice a steady, soft tone. "Luz, can you hear me now?" She asked, making me nod my head. 

"Sorry, I don't... I don't know-" I looked down at our hands, noticing how mine were shaking in her grasp. She gave my hands a squeeze, my voice instantly disappearing at her actions. 

"Don't apologize, it's okay. Sudden loud sounds aren't your thing." She told me, making me softly nod my head. Amity took her hands away from mine, picking Owlbert up off the ground and giving him a quick look over to make sure that the fall didn't do any damage before she passed him over to me. My eyes stared at the owl at the top of the staff for a moment, sending him a mental sorry. 

I hesitated, reaching out for her hands again. She thankfully took them, intertwining our hands together before giving them another squeeze. "Want me to go tell Ed to not do that?" Amity asked me, almost making me nod. 

"Ye- No! No, no I'm fine. It's fine. I don't want to ruin his fun!" I said nervously, giving Amity's hands a few squeezes. Amity gave me a look, making me look down and let out a bitter laugh. "Besides, I normally like the sound of drums, I don't get why I froze up like that..." 

"It was a sudden loud sound, it caught you off guard." Amity said softly, taking one hand away from mine and bringing it up to my cheek, allowing me to lean into her touch. "It's alright." 

"It's not exactly ideal though." I pointed out, leaning back slightly. "I mean, I am the drummer, so how am I supposed to be the drummer if I'm like this?" 

"Just give yourself time, it's okay. Besides, you won't be doing any kind of practice any time soon." Amity said as I slowly brought my hand up to my chest, rubbing it once again. 

"Yeah... I guess you're right." I could see Amity's lips tug up into a sympathetic smile, but that quickly faded when the studio front door flew open with a loud crash, nearly making me jump out of my skin. 

Amity was up on her feet in an instant, whirling around to face whoever walked inside with a spell already halfway prepared. However, she lowered her hand when she saw that it was only Boscha and Skara. 

Skara stood there wide eyed at Amity's quick actions, while Boscha only stood there, looking a little annoyed. "Can we at least get a hello before you try to blow us to bits?" The three eyed witch asked with a chuckle. 

"Do you have to throw the door open like that?" Amity asked back, bringing her hands down to her sides. I could see Boscha's eyes flicker with concern for a moment, but she quickly shook it away. 

"Sorry, sorry. Are you okay?" Then, her eyes drifted down to where I was sitting, a smile rising on her face. "Hey there Luz! Glad to see you're back, we missed you." 

"I missed you guys too." I said, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Edric and Emira were poking their heads over the corner. They were quick to walk over to the four of us, both of them glancing over at me and Amity. 

Emira silently moved over to Boscha, pulling something out of her pocket before placing it in Boscha's hand. The three eyed witch gave Emira a confused look, then looked down at what was in her hand. "Why are you giving me..." She trailed off, looking up at Amity. "Oh my gods..." 

"Wait a minute, did you two finally happen?" Skara piped up, stars filling her eyes. Then, she let out a loud squeal, quickly dashing over to Amity and pulling her into a hug. 

The sudden contact made Amity freeze up, but she was quick to give Skara a few pats on the back in response. I could see Boscha turn to me, shoving the money in her pocket with an amused look on her face. "I knew you'd be the first one to confess!" 

I gave the witch a bit of a nervous chuckle, bringing one hand up to rub the back of my neck while the other hovered by my side. "Well, it wasn't exactly under the best circumstances..." 

It only took a second, then it clicked for the witch, and I could see the twins stiffen. She opened her mouth to say something, but didn't. Instead, she gave me a slightly sad look as she nodded her head. 

Skara finally let go of Amity, now turning to me. She gave me an excited smile, the sound director practically buzzing with excitement. "I would give you a hug too, but I don't want to hurt you." She told me, making me scoff. 

"Just don't wrap your hands around my waist and I'll be fine!" I sat up a little in the bean bag chair, then nearly got tackled by the silver haired witch. She wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a tight squeeze. 

Her hug didn't last as long as the one with Amity, but I didn't mind. I could see Amity glancing over at Skara, observing her actions for a moment. The silver haired witch moved back over by Boscha, standing at her side. 

Edric threw his arms over the two witch's shoulders, pulling them close. "So! Now that the gang's all here, what should we do?" I could see Amity roll her eyes, folding her arms over her chest. 

"You really convinced us all to come here, yet you had no idea what you were gonna do?" Amity said with a laugh, making her brother roll his eyes. "Great job Ed, really, just an amazing job." 

"Hey! I never specified anything! I just said we could all hang out!" He argued, making both of his sisters snort. His ears twitched in annoyance, then his eyes lit up. "Know what we should do? Play a song!" 

"We do that for every practice dumbass. This is supposed to be a hang out." Boscha said, placing a hand on her hip. Edric shot her a glare, his eyebrows furrowed tightly together. 

"You didn't let me finish!" He hissed at the three eyed witch, only making her roll her eyes. "But like I was saying, we should play a song! Luz's pick!" I perked up slightly at the sound of my name. 

"Well, I mean if you guys want to." I started, making Edric smile. Boscha gave the Blight a shove, but she was smiling as well. "Give us a way to kill a bit of time." 

"Exactly why I suggested it!" Edric chirped, already making his way to the recording room. "C'mon you slowpokes!" 

Boscha and Emira quickly followed after the Blight, and Skara was quick to grab a bean bag chair before she followed after the three. That left me with Amity, who stared at the hallway for a moment before turning to me. 

She held her hand out for me to take, which I did, then she carefully helped me up. Once I was up on my feet, I used Owlbert as my walking staff again, but I still stuck close to Amity's side. 

We said nothing as we traveled down the hallway, quickly meeting up with the others in the recording room. Emira and Skara were by the sound board, glancing over a few of the dials before their heads perked up at the two of us walking it. 

"Brought you in a seat!" Skara chirped, motioning towards the bean bag chair. 

"Thanks Skara." I said with a smile, making the silver haired witch smile back before returning her focus to the sound board. Amity carefully helped me down into the chair, making sure I was comfortable before leaning Owlbert against my chair. 

"So, what song do you want?" She asked me, making me tense up slightly. I was tempted to ask her to play the mystery song, just to see how she'd react. Instead, I gave her a different answer. 

"Whatever you're willing to play!" I chirped, making Amity's eyes flicker for a moment. 

"Hex girls sound good to you?" She asked making a smile rise to my face. I rapidly nodded my head, watching as the witch's smile grew as well. Then, she bent down and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "Alright." 

She then stood up, going into the room with the others, informing them of the song. "Good choice Luz!" I could hear Edric say, making me smile. I got snuggled into my chair, focusing my eyes on the main singer. 

The lead singer was quick to get the others to start the song after she rested her guitar over her shoulders. Amity's vocals blended well with Boscha's, which was enough to keep me distracted until about halfway through the song. 

By the time they made it to the second round of the chorus, the pain in my chest returned, this time worst than the last. It almost felt like someone was shoving a hot flame in the center of my chest. 

I leaned my head back, squeezing my eyes shut in an attempt to block out the pain that was getting worse with each heartbeat. This one was lasting longer than the rest, and honestly that worried me. I tried reasoning with myself, telling myself to just breathe through it and it'd eventually go away. 

After all, there wasn't a need to worry the band more than they needed to be. 

That lasted for a solid thirty seconds until another, more powerful, sharp stabbing pain hit me, completely knocking the wind out of me. Now, I couldn't breathe. 

It was like something was pressing up against my lung, leaving only pure pain wherever it touched. I couldn't make a sound, not even a gasp of pain because of how bad it was. It felt like pressure was building up in my chest, slowly compressing my lungs. My vision blurred with hot tears that quietly rolled down my cheeks. At this point I realized that this wasn't going away.

I couldn't take it anymore. 

With one hand clutching tightly onto my sweater over my chest, I tried to reach out to grab Owlbert with the other, the entire time desperately trying to make a sound even though my throat felt paralyzed. 

My fingers, although weak and shaky, managed to brush against the staff, which only pushed it further away from me. The staff rolled, then clattered to the ground, catching the rest of the band's attention. Even with my blurry vision I could see Amity's eyes snap up in my direction, her golden eyes widening in fear. 

Amity and Boscha were quick to strip themselves of their guitars as they dashed over to me, the teal haired witch stopping in front of me first with everyone else on her heels. 

I let out a few choked wheezes, my eyes widening in panic when the pain somehow got even worse. It honestly felt like this was worse than what happened to me with that creep, it burned so much more than that did. 

"Luz?!" Amity gently grabbed onto my shoulders, giving them a squeeze to try and get my attention. I could see the panicked expression that was on her face. "Luz what's wrong?" I pointed a shaky hand to my chest, while the other only squeezed the sweater even tighter in my fist. 

"Hurt-" I finally managed to choke out, which only made the pressure in my chest and lungs worse, leaving me unable to form any other coherent words. But despite that, Amity seemed to understand. 

She gave my shoulders another squeeze, but now her voice sounded distant. "You're rubbing your- Luz why didn't you tell me?!" I could hear her say before I felt her let go of me. 

With fading vision, I could see her get up and frantically try to talk with her siblings, then another set of hands landed on my shoulders, a voice saying something about how I was going to fall. It had to have been Boscha or Skara, but another sharp pain left me not caring who it was.

I tried to listen to what Amity was saying, but at this point all I could hear was gibberish. A sharp voice rang out to my right, catching Amity's attention and dragging it back down to me, only to see her face pale in surprise. 

My vision blurred and even though there were people holding me, I felt my body slump over to the side before everything went black.


	28. Wake up call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH DEAR GOD I LEFT YOU GUYS ON A CLIFFHANGER FOR TOO LONG I'M SORRY
> 
> Anyways, no important notes here!

Amity POV:

"Amity, bit of a problem!" Boscha's voice pulled my attention away from my siblings, bringing it back down to her and Luz. I watched as Luz's eyes rolled back, then despite Boscha holding her up, she fell on her side, out cold. 

"Luz...?" I managed to choke out, feeling the color drain from my face as my eyes widened in surprise. 

It took only a second, then my brain kicked into overdrive. 

"Luz!" I yelled, the panic quickly rising in my voice. Nearly shoving Boscha out of the way, I carefully positioned Luz so that she was lying on her back. Her face was pale, her lips barely parted as low shallow breaths brushed past. "No no no no no, no please! Luz!" Hot tears pricked the sides of my eyes, blurring my vision. 

I could hear my siblings talking behind me, but all their words sounded like mush to me. "Amity, give her some space to breathe..." I could hear Skara say to me, clearly trying to cover the panic in her voice as she rested a hand on my shoulder. I quickly shrugged her off, not even turning to face the silver haired witch.

Luz's body was limp, and through my tears I could barely see her chest rising and falling. Almost completely still, just like last time. "This isn't happening again, please not again..." I managed to choke out, grabbing onto her shoulders. 

I wanted to shake her, do something, anything to wake her up. My breathing was quick, almost on the brink of hyperventilating. Suddenly, I felt two hands on my shoulders, trying to pull me away. "Mittens don't-" Edric started, probably realizing what I was going to do, however he cut off when I pulled away again. "Amity if you want us to help you need back up!" He finally snapped, making me whirl around to look at him. 

He was afraid, I could see it in his eyes, but that didn't stop me from snapping back at him. "Edric! Don't pull me away..." I snarled, watching his expression flicker for a moment. "I..." My voice died out as my breathing hitched, escaping as a weak sob. 

Emira reached out again, but I quickly smacked her hand away. I could hear her let out a few low curses, then she turned to look at Boscha, giving her a solemn nod. "Look Amity, I know you're gonna want to kill us, but this is to help Luz, so I'm sorry." I heard her say, making my eyes widen.

Before I could get a word out, Emira cast a spell that pushed me far enough away from Luz so they could move in my place. I scrambled to get on my feet, only for Boscha to hook her arms under mine, holding me in place.

I tried to fight against the three eyed witch, struggling to rip my arms from her grasp. "Let me go! Boscha let go of me!" The witch gave me a somber look as she shook her head, grunting when I nearly broke free of her grasp. "Please, you can't just make me stand here while she's like that!" 

"Shit..." She readjusted her grip when I tried to pull away again. "Skara can you give me a hand here?" Skara perked up at the mentioning of her name, looking between me and Luz. I didn't look at her, rather I paid attention to my siblings in the background.

"What exactly are we supposed to do?" I could hear Edric hiss, making my sister's ears twitch. 

"Just give me a minute alright! Let me remember that spell Viney was telling me..." Edric leaned back from my sister for a minute, his eyes flicking up to me, then back down to Luz. I could see Emira gently place two fingers against Luz's neck before sucking in a small breath through her teeth. "Weak pulse, but it's still there..." 

"Again, what exactly are we supposed to do?" Edric asked, this time more desperate than the first time. Then, he glanced over at me before dropping his voice to a point where I could barely hear him. "We aren't exactly healers Em..." 

"No really Ed? I had no idea." Emira's voice dripped with sarcasm and a hint of panic. I tried to yank away from Boscha again, struggling to get back to Luz's side. Boscha made sure to tighten her grip.

"So then we need to take her to somebody! The healers, the owl lady, fuck we could even take her back to the human realm if we have to!" Edric hissed, making Emira's eyebrows furrow together. 

"Ed, the healers here know practically nothing about humans..." Emira's eyes darted towards me for a moment, then she lowered her voice down, almost low enough for me to miss. "She's lucky she survived back at the healers last time." 

"Then we take her to the human realm!" He said, motioning towards Luz. "At least the healers there would know what to do to take care of her! It's better than us wasting time by trying to figure out what to do!" 

Emira let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her temples. "Not only do we have no way to get her back to the human realm, but how would we explain this to them if we did? It'd look like we cause this!" 

I could see Edric frown, trying to think of anything else that might work, snapping his fingers a few times in an attempt to distract himself. "Okay, maybe not them. I... we... we could take her to her mom maybe? Her mom knows about witches right?" His voice going a bit higher with emotion. 

My sister let out a low growl, her hands clenching in tight fists. "We. Can't. Get. To. The. Human. Realm. Dumbass." Emira made sure to emphasize each word, my brother's eyebrows furrowing tighter together with each word. "And we're just wasting time arguing like this!"

"Then why are we?!" He finally asked, his teeth bared in a mix of anger and panic. His eyes were glossy with frustration, a tear slipping down his cheek that he was quick to wipe away. "Knowing our luck, we've spent too long arguing and Luz could be-" Emira gave him a sharp punch to the arm, shutting him up. 

Panic kept rising in my chest, making me squirm and try to break free of Boscha's grasp again. Skara then stepped in front of me, blocking my view of my siblings and Luz. She held her hands up, saying something to me in an attempt to calm me down that I blocked out.

In fact, all of their voices were only muffled gibberish by now, overshadowed by how hard my heart was beating in my ears. All I could focus on was Luz, how her body was lying there limp, her shallow breathing and pale face. It was all too similar to last time, and it wasn't helping my nerves in the slightest. 

I needed to be by her side, I couldn't just stand here and watch everything slip away like this. Raising one of my hands, I started to draw out a spell circle, something to push Boscha away from me long enough to do what I needed. But, because of how hard my hand was shaking, I couldn't complete the circle. 

"She can't..." I started, my voice so weak and vulnerable sounding that I struggled to make it louder than a whisper. "She can't be like this again. Please I can't just watch her be like this again Boscha!" I yelled, feeling the hot tears clinging to my cheeks as they dripped coldly down my neck. 

"But you freaking out at her side isn't going to help her any Am!" She said to me, tightening her grip slightly around my arms. I could hear her mutter a sorry, her gaze more focused on Skara as the silver haired witch turned to my siblings. 

"I just got her back! I can't-" A sob interrupted my sentence, turning it into a choked squeak. "I can't lose her again! I don't have the heart to watch all this play out for a second time!" Boscha unhooked her arms from under me, quickly spinning around before grabbing both of my wrists, holding them tightly together so I couldn't move. 

"Amity look at me." She hissed, hiding the panic in her voice surprisingly well. I tried, but I couldn't meet her eyes. Skara appeared by Boscha's side, looking between me and the three eyed witch, trying to figure out what to do. I was trembling in the witch's grasp, my knees nearly buckling from under me. Behind me, I could hear my siblings still frantically mumbling, both their voices getting higher by the minute. 

I turned my head to face the three of them, another sharp shot of panic and adrenaline going through me when I saw how ghostly pale Luz was. She was still breathing, but you could only tell if you looked hard enough. "Luz!" I barely managed to say, both my siblings falling quiet to look up at me, panic etched clear on their faces, which only got worse when they looked back down at Luz.

Emira paled, looking between me and our drummer, a glint flashing in her eyes for a moment as an idea went off in her head. She then turned to Edric, who's eyes darted across her face as he tried to read her expression. 

"Fuck it, we've still got one last resort." She finally said, turning away from her twin as she raised a hand in the air, preparing herself to cast a spell. Edric moved back a smidge, his eyes widening before he stood up and moved towards Boscha and I. 

"What-" I started, feeling myself freeze in place when Emira placed her free hand on Luz's shoulder, drawing out the spell with her other hand. "No, no Em don't!" I cried out, struggling in Boscha's grasp again. 

This time, I managed to pull my wrists out of her tight grasp, the witch letting out a sharp sound of surprise as I did. But, as I did, I slammed into Edric, who quickly wrapped his arms around me to hold me in place. Skara took a step back towards Boscha, both of them watching Emira. 

"Amity it's the only thing we've got..." Emira said as she gritted her teeth in concentration.

I struggled to push Edric away, who only squeezed me tighter in response. "You could kill her! Stop! Emira!" I tried to punch Edric's sides to free myself, but all they became were weak taps against his sides. "Emira don't!"

"You'll thank me for this." She said to me before connecting the spell. I reached out for them, some kind of sound escaping my mouth before I felt my throat tighten, going so tight that it cut off my cry. Tears still rolled freely down my cheeks, dripping onto my shirt and leaving little wet spots all over it.

There were a few uncomfortably long seconds of silence, none of us daring to make a sound. I could see the longer the silence went on, the more the panic started to rise in Emira's eyes.

Then, Luz took in a deep, albeit sharp inhale of air. Her breathing slowly steadied out so it wasn't as shallow and the color was quickly returning to her face. The panic was instantly washed away from my sister's face, replaced with a look of relief. 

Edric's grip around me loosened, allowing me to finally break free of his grasp and move back over by Luz's side. Emira moved back a bit, not saying anything to me. 

Luz took another deep breath, stirring for a moment before letting out a soft groan and opening her eyes. My breathing hitched, watching as she looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on me. 

A faint smile rose to her lips as she turned her head so that she was facing me. "Hey Amity..." She mumbled. 

I let out a shaky chuckle, wiping away some of the tears. "Oh thank gods..." I managed to say, making her grimace. She scrunched her eyes shut, then slowly started to shift up to her elbows, mumbling a few phrases under her breath. 

She managed to barely sit up, then her eyes widened before she started to slightly sway. "And sitting up does not make me feel so good..." She mumbled, slowly slumping back down. 

"Just relax Luz." Emira said before standing up, rubbing her hands over her eyes. "I'm gonna give Viney a call, have her come look at you to see if she can find anything wrong, then Mittens will take you home." 

Luz waved Emira off, letting out a tired chuckle. "I'm fine! You don't need to go bug Viney." Boscha scoffed, catching Luz's attention. She folded her arms over her chest, glaring at the drummer. 

"You just passed out and probably nearly died for a second time." The three eyed witch hissed, Skara nodding her head in agreement. "So you're either gonna have Viney see if she can find anything wrong or so help me I will brainwash you into doing it." 

I watched Luz put on a nervous smile, letting out a bit of a chuckle before nodding her head. Boscha gave her a look that said 'that's what I thought' then spun around on her heel, leaving the room without another word. Emira soon followed after her, her scroll already out in her hand as she went to call Viney. 

Skara moved a little closer to us, clasping her hands together as she rocked slightly on her heels. "You want me to get you a water or something?" She asked Luz, making her nod her head. The silver haired witch gave her a smile, then a salute before she left the room as well. 

Edric was the only one that stayed, taking a seat by the sound board, quietly staring at the two of us for a moment. Luz let out another low groan, running her hand through her hair before pausing to look at me. 

She started to sit up again, this time not flopping back down. "You okay Amity? You've been quiet." She asked me, reaching up with her hand to cup my cheek, using her thumb to wipe away some of my tears. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"Am I okay?" I pointed to myself, noticing how my hands were still shaking. Then, before I thought about what I was doing, I threw my arms around Luz, resting my head on her shoulder. "You may have just given me a heart attack, but I'm not worried about me! I'm more worried about you!" 

"Pretty sure I gave myself a heart attack too..." The drummer let out a dry laugh before falling quiet, trying to find the words to say. Instead, she said nothing and just wrapped her arms around me to hold me close. I could feel her nuzzle her head into my shoulder, letting out a low sigh. 

"How are you feeling now?" Edric suddenly asked, making Luz perk up. I could still hear the waver in his voice, but he was doing a great job at covering it. Luz let go of me, rubbing her hands under her eyes. 

"Besides the slight nausea and dull throbbing in my side, I'm fine!" Luz chirped, making me roll my eyes. She placed her hand against her chest again, her eyes lighting up a little. "And hey! The chest pain's gone." She faltered for a moment, putting her hand back down at her side. "At least, it is for now." 

"And you need to tell me if it comes back." I said quickly, taking her attention off of my brother. "Like, tell me the second it comes back. This last time made you pass out and..." I paused, my mind flashing with the image of Luz from earlier. I shook my head a couple of times, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And there's no telling what will happen if it got worse than that." 

Skara walked back into the room, quickly walking over to Luz and handing her the water. Luz gave the sound director a smile. "Thanks Skara." 

"Anytime!" Skara responded, moving over towards Edric. I could hear her ask where Boscha went, which Edric responded with a jab of his thumb. The witch nodded, turned back to us and gave us a smile before leaving the room. 

Emira walked back into the room shortly after, moving over towards the sound board and flipping a few switches. "Viney will be here soon, just chill out till then." Luz nodded her head, then all of us went quiet. My sister tweaked a few more dials, then spun around, motioning towards the door. "I'll go wait out in the main for her, give a call if you need anything." 

The three of us nodded our heads, then Emira left. I turned to Edric, noticing how he was still in the chair. "You leaving too?" I asked him, watching as he surprisingly shook his head. 

"I'm not just gonna leave after something like this." He said, leaning back in his chair a bit to seem more relaxed. "I mean, the others do have a good reason for leaving, since Em's waiting for Viney and Skara's making sure Boscha's okay, but still, I'm staying here." 

"Fine by me." I muttered, tensing up when I suddenly felt Luz's hand overlap mine. She started drawing small circles on the top of my hand with her finger, and looking over at her, I noticed she was just staring down at our hands. 

She looked tired, the usual spark in her eyes missing. I couldn't tell if it was because of the angle I was looking at, or some other reason. Her eyes flicked up to mine, a low smirk rising on her lips. "Are you just gonna keep staring at me Blight or are you gonna say something?" Luz asked, making my ears go down. 

I didn't say anything, rather, I just shook my head. Luz let out a sigh, looking back down at our hands for a moment before back up at me again. She motioned for me to move closer, and once I did, she pulled me into another hug. Her actions made me tense up for a moment, but I was quick to relax. 

Her head rested on my shoulder, her arms wrapped loosely around my waist. I didn't move from my position, instead, I just let Luz do whatever she wanted. "Your heart's pounding pretty hard..." I heard her say. 

Was my heart really still that loud? The adrenaline of the moment was over, if anything it should be at least starting to calm down. I let out a little laugh, slowly bringing my hands up to wrap around her. "It's because you're hugging me." I said, but Luz shook her head. 

"No, when I hug you it's different than this." She mumbled, squeezing me a bit tighter. "When you're flustered, I've noticed your heartbeat gets this specific rhythm. Right now though, it's all over the place... I really scared you, didn't I?" 

"What makes you think you didn't?" I asked, my voice shaky. "You just passed out because of some extreme pain and looked like you were about to die! Do you really think I wouldn't be terrified?" I paused for a moment, giving Luz a little squeeze. "I almost thought I'd lose you for a second time..." I whispered, soft enough I hoped Luz wouldn't hear it.

Luz let out a laugh, pulling away from me with a smile on her face. "C'mon, it takes a lot more than some sharp pain to put me six feet under!" She told me, placing her hand back on my cheek. "And even if it did, I have a feeling you'd somehow bring me back to life." 

I rolled my eyes, leaning slightly into Luz's touch. "Necromancy is illegal Luz." I told her, hearing Edric scoff behind me before I turned around to face him. 

"But knowing you Mittens, you would still do it." He said, leaning back in his chair. "After all, having a ghost version of Luz for your girlfriend isn't really your thing, is it? You prefer your Luz to be warm." I could feel my cheeks warm up at his statement, a low growl rising up from my throat. However, Luz chuckled. 

"Yeah, I doubt you'd like the cold cuddles." Luz wrapped her arms around my neck, resting her head on my shoulder. "And I don't think I'd like them either." I nodded my head, my ears twitching when I heard the sound of voices slowly getting louder from the hallway. 

Viney popped her head in, giving the three of us a smile. "Hey guys!" She chirped as she walked in, my sister trailing not too far behind her. We all gave her a collect hi as she moved over towards Luz and I. 

Slowly, I stood up, hesitating for a moment before moving over towards Edric. Viney and Luz started talking, the beastkeeper seeing what she could find out about what happened. I leaned against part of the wall, folding my arms over my chest and nervously tapping my fingers against my arms. 

I turned to look at my sister, shooting her a glare when her eyes met mine. "You're so lucky I don't kill you for what you just did." I said, making her eyes widen a little before she looked away from me. 

Once she turned away, I unfolded my arms and tapped them against my thighs, turning my gaze back to Luz and Viney. Then, I brought a hand up to my chest, feeling my heart still pounding against my ribs, though now it was starting to slow down. I folded my arms again, starting to tap my fingers again.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Edric look up at me, his ears twitching for a moment before he looked away. "You good Mittens?" He kept his voice low, making sure Luz couldn't hear him. 

"Not really..." I mumbled back, not looking over at him. I stopped tapping my fingers and just tightly gripped onto my arms, staring at Viney and Luz. Luz was explaining to Viney what happened, but I didn't pay attention to a word she was saying. 

"Didn't think you were." I heard him say as he stood up, wrapping his arm around my shoulders before pulling me into a side hug. "Wanna talk about it?" I hesitated, and I knew he could tell that I was. My ears slowly pinned themselves down, my grip getting a little tighter on my arms. 

Finally, I sucked in a breath, turning my gaze down to the ground. "It just... reminded me of last time..." Edric gave my shoulder a squeeze, and my vision blurred with more tears. 

"I'm not surprised that it did." I looked up at him, seeing the sympathetic look on his face. "Wanna take a minute? Go outside and get some air? I'll stay here with these guys if you want." 

"No!" I said, a little louder than I should have. Both Viney and Luz paused, looking over at the two of us. They went quiet for a moment, then started up their conversation again. "I don't want to leave, I don't want to go outside, I just want to be here. I'm fine." 

Edric's eyes darted across my face for a moment, his mouth opening to say something before he stopped. Biting his lip to hold back his words, he gave me a nod, then turned his gaze back over to Viney and Luz. 

He lightly cleared his throat with a soft cough, then put on his usual smirk. "So doc, whaddya think's going on?" Viney perked up, turning towards my brother with a focused look on her face. 

"Honestly, not too sure..." She tapped her finger against her chin, then turned to Emira. "What kind of spell did you use?" Emira glanced down at Luz for a moment, then back up at the beastkeeper. 

"One of those healing spells you taught me. The pain targeting one or something like that?" Viney nodded her head, her eyebrows tightly knitted together in concentration. "Honestly I thought it'd be better to do rather than just a plain healing spell, since it'd target the source and not just try to fix her side." The beastkeeper nodded again, squinting her eyes a little. 

"It could be a mix of things..." I could hear her mumble as she slowly started to pace the room. She continued to mumble things under her breath, her eyes glued to the floor. I could hear Luz sigh, sinking back into her chair a bit. 

"Hey, it's probably just from me being up too soon." Luz said with a shrug, snapping her fingers into her signature finger guns before pointing them in my direction. "Guess you were right Amity, should've just stayed home!" 

Viney paused in her pacing, her ears twitching. "The only thing that I can think of that's similar to this is when a witch uses up too much of their magic... the severe chest pains, the inability to breathe, the pressure, it would all make sense if you weren't human." 

"So what happened could just be a human thing." Emira said with a shrug, folding her arms over her chest. Viney gave a quick nod before turning to Luz. 

"Just to check, you haven't done any kind of magic recently right?" Luz shook her head. "Okay then..." 

Luz smiled, giving out a little chuckle. "Why do you ask?" 

"I don't exactly know how your glyphs work, so I thought that maybe there was a possibility that it had some kind of effect, but since you haven't done one in awhile that can't be it." 

The drummer nodded her head, lightly tapping her fingers against her seat. "Even if I had, I don't think that would be it either. I mean, last I checked, my glyphs don't really pull from anything in me like you guys. They just kinda..." Luz put her hands together, then made a soft explosion sound. "Work." 

The beastkeeper let out a bit of a sigh, slumping over slightly. "Well then, Emira might be right about it being just a human thing, which means I don't have an answer. Sorry Luz." 

Luz gave a shrug. "No need to be sorry Viney." Emira moved over to Viney, placing a hand on her shoulder. I moved away from Edric, who didn't protest against me moving. 

"So that means, we're heading back to Earth to find somebody who can figure out what happened." I said, making Luz's eyes widen a little. She let out a bit of a nervous chuckle, pulling slightly at the collar of her shirt. 

"One problem with that, how exactly are we gonna explain this?" She motioned to her side, letting out another tight chuckle. "I mean, they'll probably lock me up somewhere if I said I was in another dimension when I got shot, then got patched up by the healers here." 

I went to argue, but then stopped. "She does have a point." Edric said, Emira nodding her head in agreement. "But, Mittens does have a point too." 

"So then what?" Luz paused, trying to think of what to do for a moment before her eyes widened. "Actually... my mom works at the hospital back at home. I could just ask her." She then froze up, drumming her fingers against her chair. "I can't tell if that's more terrifying than actually going to the hospital or not." 

"Great, so that's what we'll do." I said, ignoring her last statement as I walked over. "We should probably get going now, just in case anything happens again." 

"I'm either gonna get scolded, or I'm gonna watch her fly into a panic..." I heard Luz say under her breath as I grabbed Owlbert off of the floor, passing him to the drummer. Surprisingly, the staff still wasn't damaged in any way. 

Luz grabbed the staff, placing one of her hands towards the top, then grabbing my hand with the other. I carefully pulled her up, my ears twitching when I heard her let out a low hiss. "You okay?" I asked quickly, feeling the panic snag my heart again. Luz nodded her head, grabbing onto the staff with both hands. 

"I'm fine, it's just my side." She mumbled, giving me a small smile. "Now, let's get going and get this over with." We started to walk out of the room, but then Luz paused, turning back to everyone else. "I'll see you guys later!" 

They all gave Luz a smile and a wave before we both left the room, the two of us slowly walking down the hallway. We didn't say anything at first, which allowed me to hear Boscha and Skara's voices floating out from her room. 

"And holding her back like that? Just... gods!" I heard the three eyed witch say. "I shouldn't have held her back like that, maybe I should've used a binding spell or something..." 

"Honestly, that'd probably be worse than you holding her back." Skara piped up, their voices getting louder as we approached Boscha's room. The two of us slowed down a little when we got closer to the door, wanting to hear the conversation. 

"But what am I supposed to say to her now? Hey Am, sorry for holding you back from your girlfriend while you were having a breakdown!" I could hear her put on a sarcastically cheery tone. "That just sounds... gods I can't even tell." 

"Well when you phase it like that of course it's gonna sound bad!" Skara said. I slowly peered into the doorway, seeing Boscha leaning over her desk while Skara had her back against the wall, her arms folded across her chest. 

"There had to be some better way to handle that." I could hear Boscha mumble, Skara pushing herself off the wall and walking over to the three eyed witch's side, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"We were all panicking, there was no way to think clearly." She said, making the pink haired witch look over at her. I decided that now would be a good time to let them know we were here. I gently knocked on the door frame, making the two of them jump before facing me. 

"Luz and I are heading out." I said, Skara giving me a nod. "Thought I'd let you guys know." 

"Yeah..." Boscha said, her eyes flickering with some kind of emotion for a second before it disappeared. "See you guys later then." 

"See you guys!" Luz yelled, making me flinch. Boscha chuckled a little as Skara gave the two of us an enthusiastic wave. I backed up from the doorway, getting ready to leave before I paused. 

"And Boscha?" The witch perked up at the sound of her name. "Text me later, okay?" It looked like she hesitated for a minute, then she nodded her head. 

I spun on my heel a little, then Luz and I started to leave again. We went out the studio's front door, a low breeze coming in and ruffling our hair. "So, looks like you'll get to see my mom again!" Luz suddenly chirped, making me chuckle. 

"Guess so." I could see Luz's smile falter for a moment, her grip readjusting on the staff. "What's up?" 

"Nothing!" She quickly said, turning her gaze in front of us. "Just... I'm sorry about scaring you so badly. I should've said something earlier, but I thought it was just going to pass like all the rest." 

"You don't have to keep apologizing." I muttered, my ears moving down slightly. "It's not like you knew it was going to happen, I just... overreacted." I folded my arms, giving them a bit of a rub as another breeze rolled in. 

"I doubt you did." Luz said, making me turn to look at her. Her brown eyes met mine, the concern in her eyes clear. "I mean, after everything that's happened, me randomly passing out like that isn't going to go over so well in your head." 

"It didn't..." I muttered, making Luz tilt her head. 

"What'd you say?" I quickly tensed up, shaking my head. 

"I said it wouldn't." Luz stared at me for a moment, her eyes moving across my face for a moment before she nodded her head. We both looked forward, and based on our surroundings I knew we were almost halfway to my house. 

We went quiet again for a moment, Luz glancing around at the trees that swayed slightly when another breeze came in. "Hey Ammy?" She finally asked, making me perk up. 

I hummed in response, turning towards the drummer, who quickly turned to look at me. "What's up?" 

"Once we're done back on Earth, can we just go back to your place and cuddle in your room? I feel like I should make it up to you for nearly giving you a heart attack." She gave me a bit of a smile, which only grew wider when my face started to heat up. 

Blinking a few times, I let out a nervous chuckle. "You don't need to make anything up to me." I told her, rubbing the back of my neck. "But the cuddles do sound pretty nice..." 

"Well then it's settled!" Luz said tilting her head slightly. Then, she picked up her pace a little, making me walk faster to keep up. "Let's go get this over quick so we can just cuddle for the rest of the day!" 

Despite what happened before this, I couldn't stop the smile that rose to my face. "Sure Luz, that sounds like a plan."


	29. Punches before practice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll I'm sorry if this timeskip sucks, but I really just needed things to start to move along lol
> 
> Anyways, no important notes for this chapter!

Luz POV:

Heading back to Earth for the second time that week caught my mom a little off guard, making her quick to scold me for coming back so soon, asking if I listened at all when she said to rest. However, once I explained why we were back, her scolding quickly turned into worry. 

I can't remember everything that she asked me, a lot of her questions were about how it felt and where the pain was at. After giving her all the answers she wanted, she then turned to Amity and asked what happened after I passed out, the hint of panic clear in her voice. Amity was quick to explain, and I could see the fear rising in my mom's eyes by the minute. 

Once Amity finished explaining, my mom muttered something about needing to make a call before quickly leaving the room, leaving Amity and I alone. We didn't say much while we waited for her to return, and I can remember Amity placing her hand over top of mine, rubbing soft circles on the top of my hand. 

She wasn't gone long, but when she came back, she told Amity that she was going to keep me here for a couple of days and that she should head home. 

Amity was clearly reluctant to agree, in fact, it almost looked like she was going to argue that I shouldn't need to stay, but she didn't. Instead, she agreed, turning to me to give me a quick kiss on the cheek before standing up and heading towards the door, saying she'd be back in a few days.

Once the front door closed, I turned to my mom, going to ask her what was going to happen now. 

But, before I could get any of the words out, she pulled me into a tight hug. Not saying a word, just holding me close to her as if when she were to let go I'd just disappear. I remember how shaky her breathing was, how she tried to hide her sniffles. 

My mom told me that she wanted me to stay so that we could head to her work and get me one of those MRI scans, seeing if anything was out of the ordinary. But, since I got fixed in the Boiling Isles and had no record of getting discharged for my last injury here on Earth, she had to basically sneak me in to get one. 

That night, it was weird trying to fall asleep in my old, practically empty room. 

Even weirder was not having the teal haired witch by my side with the sound of her soft breathing and her heartbeat in my ears.

The next morning, I was woken up early and taken to the hospital where she worked. Right away when we walked through the doors, I was hit with that hospital scent, the echoing of footsteps down the halls and the faint beeping from the heart monitors in each room.

For a second, it almost made me long for the quietness of the Isles' hospital rooms. 

Of course I was nervous about getting the scan, but I covered that up by making quick little jokes to ease the tension. It wasn't long after we walked through the doors that my mom lead me to the room with the big scanner, greeting a few of her coworkers along the way. 

The scan didn't last long, maybe twenty minutes at most. In fact, it was honestly kind of cool getting scanned with the giant tube, almost like a weird form of human magic. 

The pictures came through, showing the black and white photos of my organs. My mom studied the photos for awhile, and I remember her saying how she couldn't see anything the matter with my heart. In fact, it looked normal. 

She spent some more time studying the photos, looking for something, anything to explain what happened to me. Instead, after who knows how long, she told me that we should head home. 

On the way home, she told me that maybe what happened was due to the stress of being up and moving too much. I gave her a shrug, telling her that was probably the reason, especially since I was too stubborn to just stay home like Amity said. 

Then, the rest of the day was spent at home with my mom, the two of us trying to relax in each other's presence, which normally wasn't hard to do. But, since everything had happened, I could tell my mom was on edge, the worry gnawing at her mind. 

And the entire time, even though I knew it was only a few days, I missed Amity. I couldn't tell if it was because I was so used to the witch being around, or maybe I was anxious not knowing how she was doing. Of course, I was an idiot and didn't bring along my scroll to message her, leaving me in the dark about how she was. 

Another night passed, that one more sleepless than the last. I remember waking up to my mom calling my name at the bottom of the stairs, saying how Amity was already there. That woke me up pretty quick. 

The first thing I noticed when I saw Amity, was just how tired she looked. It almost looked like she barely slept the few days I was gone. But despite that, the excitement in her voice was clear when she greeted me. 

My mom was hesitant to send us off, telling me to say something to her if anything else happened. And, before we left, she gave me some painkillers to take with me, which was nice. 

Then, we were off, heading back to the Boiling Isles. 

That was a few weeks ago, and now, I was lying on my new mattress in the owl house, halfway awake. 

"Luz!" King's familiar, squeaky voice hissed as he squirmed to escape my grasp. I blinked a few times, feeling King's horns graze against my arm as he finally pulled himself free. "Wake up!" 

"I'm awake." I turned my head in the tiny demon's direction, putting on a small smile. His eyes slanted downwards a little, a small huff escaping him. 

"Well you didn't do anything that said you were!" I let out a little chuckle, slowly sitting up and stretching my arms over my head, my joints softly popping. "Besides, I'm hungry!" I chuckled again, reaching out for the little demon and scooping him up before he could scamper away. 

"You're always hungry you little cutie." I told him, giving the top of his skull a kiss. A weh escaped his muzzle as he tried to push me away, smacking my cheek a few times in an attempt to make me let him go. 

"I'm not cute!" He hissed, holding my face back before I could kiss him again. "How many times do I have to tell you that? It's like you have short term memory or something!" 

The little demon pushed himself out of my grasp, flopping down onto my bed with a bit of a bounce. He was quick to push himself back onto his feet, placing his hands on his hips before giving me a glare. 

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, placing a hand on top of his head. "Gee you're right, guess I do have short term memory." I told him, seeing the satisfaction fill his eyes. 

"I know I'm right!" He said, quickly grabbing onto my hand and starting to pull me forward. "Now c'mon! I want some breakfast!" I let out a sigh, a smile rising to my face. 

"Oh I don't know King, I don't think I remember how to make breakfast." I joked, making the demon gasp. He pulled on my hand a little harder, trying to get me to stand up. 

"Now you're just being mean!" He told me, making a few chuckles bubble up from my throat. 

"Hey, you're the one that told me I have short term memory." I pointed out, making him scowl. He let out a little whine, pulling at my hand again. "Okay okay, I'm sorry, that was mean. Still, it was kinda funny." I said with a snort, watching the demon's eyes slant downwards again.

He let go of my hand, both his paws becoming tight fists at his side. "You think it's funny until I sick a bloodthirsty demon on you!" He told me in a high pitched voice. 

"But if you do that, I won't be able to make you breakfast." I pointed out, making King raise a fist to argue before he paused, realizing I was right. "Look, just give me a minute, and then I'll go make you some pancakes, how does that sound?" I could see the excitement quickly fill his eyes as he nodded his head. 

Patting around the side of my mattress, I stuggled to find a piece of paper and a pencil. My fingers barely brushed against the items, which I quickly picked up. Placing the paper against my knee, I scribbled out a quick light spell, tapping the center. 

The paper quickly crumpled up, turning itself into a light source. King let out a little yelp, shielding his eyes with his hands. "Why is it so bright?" He asked, squinting the entire time.

"Because your eyes are used to the dark." I mumbled, letting the spell float on its own in the air. "Besides, it's not that bright." I said as I searched for where I set my scroll. 

"It's brighter than your other light spells! Those ones didn't hurt my eyes!" He hissed, turning his back to me. "There's spots in my vision!" I could hear the demon complain as I finally found and grabbed my scroll. 

"You also look at them when I have the window light." I muttered, eyeing the curtains I draped over the window for a moment before turning my gaze down to my scroll. "Now, what time is it anyway?" 

I squinted as I turned the scroll on, blinking a few times before being able to read the time. "The tiny light spells aren't this bright!" King whined, making me sigh. I looked over at the light spell, realizing he was right about it being brighter than usual. 

"Just give your eyes a moment to adjust King, then it won't be as bright. Besides, it's seven in the morning, so chill out for a minute." King turned around to face me, still squinting his eyes, although he wasn't doing it as much now. 

"Can we just go down and get breakfast now?" He asked, making me smile. Looking back down at my scroll, I quickly pulled up someone's messages. 

"Just one second..." I mumbled, quickly typing out a message. "Morning Ammy <3" It read, making me smile and silently wonder if she was already up or not. "Okay, now we can go." 

King let out an excited squeal, already scampering off towards my door. I let out a bit of a chuckle, slowly pushing myself up to my feet. Some dull pain traveled up my side as I stood, making me wince. However, the pain was quick to disappear once I got on my feet. 

Now that I was getting better, maybe I could take Amity to that spot I've wanted to take her to for weeks now. Go through with my old plan.

"C'mon you slowpoke! We gotta get this stuff made before Eda wakes up!" King whisper shouted to me, making me chuckle. 

"What? Afraid she'll try to stop us?" I asked, back, making the demon spin around and walk backwards to talk to me. 

"Of course not! She'd never be able to stop the King of demons anyways!" He said confidently, making a smile rise to my lips. "I just don't want her to steal all the food!" 

"That sounds more like something you'd do!" The demon didn't give me a response, rather, he spun around on his heel and got ready to run off into the kitchen. However, he tripped over his own foot and flopped onto the ground with a soft thud. 

He was quick to pick himself up, muttering little curses under his breath as he darted off. I bit the inside of my cheek so that I wouldn't laugh, but that didn't stop the smile from rising to my lips. 

I met up with him out in the kitchen, where I found he had already climbed up on the counter and was grabbing something out of one of the cabinets. With a low chuckle, I quietly crept across the floorboards, hoping that a stray creak wouldn't give me away. 

"Luz? Are you coming or what?" He asked, still digging in the cabinet. "Oh come on, please don't tell me you've already gone back to bed!" I stood right behind him now, raising my arms up into the air as a sinister smirk found its way to my lips. He spun around, his eyes slanted downwards, before they widened. 

"Boo!" I yelled, carefully wrapping my hands around the demon's little body and lifting him in the air. He let out a high pitched scream, squeezing his eyes shut as he held his arms close to his chest. Laughter bubbled up from my throat as I pulled the demon into a hug, carefully resting my head on top of his. "Looks like the all mighty King of demons is a scaredy cat!" 

"I am not!" He argued, his voice higher than usual. "I'm not whatever you just called me! I don't get scared by anything!" 

"Sure you don't." I teased, placing King back down on his feet. "In fact, because you don't ever get scared, that's why you screamed so loud isn't it?" He folded his arms over his chest, giving me a dark glare. Giving his head a little pat, I turned back to the cabinets, humming under my breath as I pulled out the ingredients we needed. 

It wasn't long before I had everything in a bowl, mixing it all together with a broken whisk I had found in one of Eda's drawers. King sat perched on my shoulder, lightly swaying back and forth to my humming. 

I slowly turned on my heel with my eyes closed, going to put the bowl on the counter. Then, someone suddenly cleared their throat, making my eyes snap open and a short scream to rush past my lips. I held the whisk out as if it would be able to protect me against some intruder.

King let out a snicker, giving me a little nudge. "Who's the scaredy cat now?"

There, with her hands on her hips, stood Eda. She eyed me up and down for a moment, her eyebrows moving a bit closer together. "Just what do you think you're doing?" She asked me, her eyes landing on the bowl in my arms. 

Letting out a nervous chuckle, I placed the whisk back in the bowl, rubbing the back of my neck with my now free hand. "Making breakfast, want some?" King gave my head a light shove at the offer, clearly not happy I was trying to share. 

"You should be resting." Eda mumbled, ignoring my question and glaring at King. King let out a bit of a nervous chuckle, quickly hopping down from my shoulder and onto the counter. 

"I'm just making a bit of breakfast, it's nothing too crazy. Besides, it's been a few weeks, I need to be moving around a lot more." Eda scoffed, taking a seat at the table and resting her head on the palm of her hand. 

"Still need to be taking it easy kiddo." She said as I turned around, going to get a pan to start cooking. "After all, wouldn't want to mess anything else up with your weird human body."

"Hey, it's not like I'm lifting heavy boxes or something like that." I pointed out, pouring a bit of the batter into the pan. "The worst I'm doing is going to the studio for practice." 

"Practice with all those dork friends of yours?" King asked as he plopped down on the table, making me give him a deadpan look. "What?" 

"They aren't dorks King." I bit my tongue, then brought my voice to below a whisper. "Well, besides Amity. She's my dork." Luckily, the sizzle from the pan covered up any evidence that I said anything at all. 

I could hear Eda snort, and turning around I found her softly shaking her head. "You can't look at blushy Blight, who was top of the class and my sister's prodigy and tell me she isn't a dork. Nice try." 

"Well then, that just means I'm a dork along with them. Which in all honesty, is the truth." King and Eda looked at one another, a moment of silence between the two before they both busted up in a fit of laughter. 

King wiped away a tear from his eyes, his other arm wrapped around his side as he continued to laugh. "You aren't wrong there!" He barely managed to say, almost struggling to breathe while he laugh. "You're one of the dorkiest creatures I've ever met!" 

While the two of them lost it behind me, I turned my attention back to the pancake I put in the pan. Quickly finding a spatula, I flipped over the pancake and grimaced at the slightly burnt end that faced me. "Oh well, King won't mind." I thought to myself. 

Eda snorted a few more times, shaking her head. "Kid you're a hoot." I rolled my eyes at my mentor's probably unintentional pun, tapping the pancake a couple of times with the spatula. "But pushing that aside, why are you guys even having practice anyways? Wasn't your last show like... a week ago?" 

"A few weeks ago." I corrected, flipping the pancake again before putting it on a plate. Passing the plate over to King, I could hear a high pitched squeal escaped him before he started to shove the pancake in his mouth. "And I guess you can call it more of a hangout than a practice..." 

"Then why call it a practice? Just say you're gonna go meet up with your girlfriend and make out in the closet. Not that hard." I froze up, feeling the heat rising to my cheeks. Shooting Eda a glare, which she only gave me a cheeky smirk in response. 

"I'm calling it a practice cause we're gonna go through our songs at least once." I said with a huff, spinning on my heel and returning back to the pan to start making another pancake. 

"Sure kid, whatever helps you sleep at night." She said as she rolled her eyes. "And hey, you mind getting me an apple blood from the cooler?" 

"What's the magic word?" I asked, looking over at my shoulder at the silver haired witch. She huffed, slouching down slightly. 

"Please." She said, a slightly annoyed tone laced in her voice. I smiled, flipping over the new pancake before opening the cooler and grabbing one of the bottles inside. 

Bringing the glass over to her, I gently set it down on the table in front of her. "Here you go!" I chirped, making a ghost of a smile rise on her lips. 

"Thanks kid." She glanced at the glace for a minute, her smile widening. "And would you look at that, you got me one of the stronger ones!" 

"There's a difference between them?" Eda nodded her head, giving me a lopsided smile. "A difference how?" 

"I mean, the difference is that there's the watered down stuff, then there's the hard hitting stuff." Eda said with a snort, quickly taking off the cap of her drink and giving it a quick swig, making sure I wouldn't be able to take it back now. 

"Okay then..." I muttered, turning back to the pan and flipping the pancake again, putting it on a plate. "You want a pancake Eda?" I asked, turning back towards my mentor, but she just shook her head. 

"Nah, those aren't really my thing. You can feed mine to that munchkin over there if you want." She said pointing over to King before standing up with a low groan. Her ears twitched as she walked over to me, floating her glass in the air so she could pull me into a headlock and run her knuckles on top of my head. "When are you leaving for your little 'practice' anyways?" 

Laughing, I pushed the witch away from me, running a hand through my hair in an attempt to fix it. Then, I gave her a shrug. "Great question honestly." I turned my gaze to the window, seeing the sun just barley hanging in the sky, slowly climbing up. "Probably sometime soon though." 

Eda let out a little sigh, leaning her elbow slightly on my shoulder. "Still pretty early ain't it?" She asked, squinting her eyes as she looked out the window. Then, she shrugged, lightly pushing off of me as she moved to the living room. 

"Early birds get the worm!" I said, grabbing a fork from the drawer and making sure the fire was put out under the pan. Eda looked back at me, raising an eyebrow before rolling her eyes. 

"Whatever that's supposed to mean..." I could hear her mutter before she let out a snort, giving King and I a salute. "Well, just let me know when you're leaving. I'll be home all day anyways." 

"Guards have been really surveying the market lately." King said, stuffing the last bite of pancake in his mouth. "Oh! Did you tell her about the one you lit of fire?" My eyes widened a little, then I glanced back up at my mentor, who shot the demon a glare. 

"I was going to, but now you've ruined the surprise." Eda huffed, before disappearing into the living room. King stared at where Eda was for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders, jumping off the table and leaving his empty plate behind. "And King? You clean the dishes!" Eda called out, making King freeze in his tracks. 

"What?! Why should I?" He called back, raising his nose in the air as he folded his arms over his chest. 

"Because I know you're the one that dragged Luz out of bed to make you food. Now chop chop before I chop off your tongue!" King let out a scared little squeak, bringing his hands up to his muzzle, his eyes wide with fear. Then, he quickly kicked into gear, climbing the counter and gathering the plates. I moved over to help him, but then stopped when Eda called out again. "And Luz, don't think about helping him!" 

"Are you sure?" I called back, watching as King piled the pan onto his stack, making me worry that he would drop it. 

"Yes I'm sure! It's only three dishes or so, he'll be fine." I glanced back at King one last time, hearing him grumbling under his breath. Hesitating, I finally let out a little sigh and made my way back up to my room to change. 

Pushing open my door, I noticed how the curtains seemed more open than they were before. "That's weird..." I mumbled, moving over to the window and pulling the curtains closed, casting the room in darkness. 

With a low sigh, I moved over to my bag, grabbing my black t-shirt with the skull on the front and a pair of dark jeans. Taking off my shirt, I winced when I moved a little too far, sending another dull jolt of pain up my side, luckily it was more uncomfortable rather than painful. 

While I started to pull on my other shirt over my head, I heard the familiar sound of a specific tube owl opening the window. "Luz? Hoot hoot!" 

"Hooty!" I practically screamed, whirling around even though I still had my head stuck in my shirt. "Don't come in! At least let me pull my shirt on!" I quickly popped my head out of the neck hole of my shirt, and from behind the curtain I could see the faint outline of Hooty's face. 

"Can I come in now?" He asked, dragging out his last word. I stuck my arms through the holes, pulling at the bottom of the shirt a little.

"You need to learn how to knock, but yes you can come in." I muttered, the tube owl quickly pushing his head through my curtains. "Anyways, what'd you need?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. 

"I just came by to see what you're doing! Hoot hoot!" He told me in a happy tone, slowly twisting until he was upside down. "That's a funny outfit you're wearing..."

"It wouldn't be as funny if you let me finished getting dressed." I said with a chuckle, lightly patting the owl. He was quick to flip right side up, nuzzling slightly into my hand. "And even though I love talking with you Hooty, I've got stuff I've got to go do here soon." 

"Stuff like what?" He asked, moving back a little until his head was resting on my window sill. 

"Band stuff." I said simply, giving the owl a light shove to get him out of my window. "Now I'm gonna finish getting dressed." 

"Alright!" He started to stretch down to his door, then stopped before quickly rushing back up to me. "Actually wait! If you see anyone green wandering around, send them off in my direction would you?" 

I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion, trying to think of anyone green that'd want to see Hooty. Rubbing the back of my neck, I let out a bit of a forced chuckle. "Sorry Hooty, but I don't think any of the Blights are gonna drop by today, otherwise I would." 

Actually, I probably wouldn't. Amity would probably rip him apart the second he opened his beak and the twins would probably jinx him. 

But, the door owl quickly shook his head. "No not them!" He said, his eyes slanted downward. "He's pretty much King's size. If you see him wandering around, send him in my direction." I blinked a few times, completely at a loss for whoever Hooty was talking about. 

Instead of prying for more answers, I just nodded my head and closed the window, then stepped back and closed the curtains. "Okay then... Hooty may just be losing his mind." I looked up at the window for a moment, staring at its outline through the curtains. "Maybe leaving him on his own so often is a bad idea..." 

I quickly finished getting dressed, quickly combing through my hair before pulling on my red beanie as the final touch. Glancing at myself in the mirror for a moment, I considered putting on my flannel. "Too much?" I asked out loud, grabbing it and quickly sliding it on. Tapping a finger against my chin, I took the flannel off again, then tied it around my waist. A smile was quick to rise to my lips at the sight. 

"Perfect." 

Snagging my scroll before I bounded to the living room, I checked to see if I had gotten any messages yet. None. I found it a little odd, knowing that Amity was usually up early. 

"Heading out?" Eda asked me, pulling my gaze up from my scroll. I gave a smile and a nod, making her just nod back and take a sip of her drink. "Well alright then, have fun while you're there." 

"Thanks Eda. I'll be back by later tonight, I promise. Oh, and I might bring Amity by, I have a plan to do something tonight, and she might be staying the night." She nodded her head again. "But, if I'm not here, assume I'm at Amity's house until proven otherwise." 

"If you do go over to the Blight house, don't do anything you aren't supposed to." I felt my body go stiff, a warm blush spreading across my cheeks. My reaction made Eda chuckle, running a hand through her hair. "And hey, if you come back here for the night, I'll teach you another spell." 

"Wait really?" I lightly bounced up and down, staring at Eda in excitement. "What kind of spell? An abomination spell? Oh wait, what about another healing spell?" 

"I taught you the basic healing spell last week, why are you gonna need to know the others so soon?" She paused for a moment, her ears twitching. "Actually, this is the Boiling Isles, it'd probably be a good idea to teach you more of those..." 

I hummed in response, lightly rocking on my heels. I watched as Eda thought over the spells, her eyebrows furrowed tightly together. Then, she waved me off. "You'll probably be fine with the one you have right now. Besides, that's the one you can use on yourself, the other's might have lasting effects." 

"Still, I want to know the others!" I said, furrowing my eyebrows together slightly. "I'd be able to help my friends if they need me!" Eda let out another snort, leaning back further on the couch. 

"Look kid, unless your friends are running head on into danger whenever they get the chance like me, I doubt you're gonna need those other healing spells anytime soon." 

I scowled, putting on a bit of a pout in hopes to convince her. Clasping my hands together, I watched as Eda's ears twitched. "Please Eda?" 

She stared at me for a minute, then rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Your little pout isn't going to convince me kid, but I guess I'll think about it." I pumped my fist into the air, a smile finding its way to my face. "Alright alright, now get going. Your cheery attitude is gonna make me sick."

"See you later then Eda!" I gave her a small wave, making her smile. "Bye King! Don't cause too much trouble!" I called out, hearing nothing in response. 

Pulling open the door, I found that Hooty was stretched out towards the forest. I couldn't hear his voice, but I could tell that he was still stretching out deeper into the forest. 

Not wanting to bother the door owl, I slowly pulled the door closed, then quickly started to speed walk in the direction of the studio. Once I was far enough away, I slowed down to a walk.

The walk to the studio didn't take too long, it fact, it was kind of nice. There wasn't any breeze, no random rustling from the bushes, it was almost like the entire world was still. 

By the time I could see the clear outline of the studio, I could also see a familiar silhouette. A smile quickly found its way to my face as I picked up my pace to a jog. "Boscha!" I called out, catching the witch's attention. 

She turned to look at me, her eyes softening a bit when she saw me. "Well look who it is!" She said as she shoved her hands in her jacket pockets, eyeing me up and down for a moment. 

"How's your morning been?" I asked, clasping my hands in front of me. Boscha smiled, then the two of us started some small talk as we made it the rest of the way to the studio. 

Both of us went into the studio, finding that we were the first ones here. "The others should be here soon, at least Am should be. Skara might be a little late, she said something yesterday about needing to take care of something." Boscha said, making me nod my head.

I took a seat in one of the bean bag chairs, Boscha took a seat at the table, pulling out her scroll and eyeing it over. "How long do you think till Amity and the twins get here?" I asked, making the three eyed witch chuckle. 

"Getting antsy over not seeing your girlfriend huh?" The witch teased with a snicker, making me tense up, a pale blush rising to my cheeks. Then, the studio's front door opened, making Boscha's ears twitch. "Well, there's your answer."

"Hey you two!" Edric called out to us, both the twins stepping into the studio. Edric was carrying some kind of box in his hand and Emira had a small bag. "And here I thought we'd be the first two here." I turned to look at Boscha, who wore the same confused look I did. 

"Am isn't with you guys?" Boscha turned around in her chair to face the Blights, who shook their heads. "Why not?" Edric moved over towards Boscha, setting the box he held in his hands on the table 

"Mittens has stuff she needed to take care of at home, so we kinda just ditched her." Edric said with a shrug, making Emira give him a rough jab to the ribs. "Hey what was that for? It's the truth!" 

"We left cause we needed to head to the market, we didn't just ditch her." Emira hissed, glaring at her brother before chuckling. "And we figured Mittens would show up not long after us." 

"What'd you need to head to the market for?" I asked, eyeing the box Edric brought in. He gave me a big smile, quickly opening the box to reveal an assortment of food. 

"Snacks of course!" He leaned on the table, gesturing towards the box. "I would've picked up some snacks from the owl lady, but she wasn't at her stand." I nodded my head, my eyes scanning over the Isles food. It looked edible enough.

"Oh, that reminds me cutie!" Emira suddenly appeared by my side, making me jump. "Mittens' scroll is dead, so if you need to message her, just message my number. And be as sappy as you want, I could use it as blackmail against her sometime." She told me with a smirk, making me chuckle. 

Both the twins said they were gonna go to their rooms, leaving me and Boscha alone. Pulling out my scroll, I quickly clicked on Emira's number, bringing up our messages. "Hey Amity, are you coming soon?" I asked, deciding to be nice and just use Amity's name. 

There was a bit of a pause, then I got a message back. "Taking care of something, I'll try to make it quick." 

"Alright. So what'cha doing?" I sent back, sticking my tongue out of the corner of my mouth. There was another bit of silence, then I could see it telling me she was typing. It went on for a minute, then disappeared with no new message in sight. 

I considered messaging her again, hearing that nagging voice in the back of my head start up so that I'd worry. Shaking my head a few times, I put my scroll down just assuming she was busy. I drummed my fingers against the bean bag, humming a familiar song under my breath. 

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Boscha perk up after a bit of time, her ears twitching. "That sounds familiar..." She finally said, lowering her scroll. I looked up at her, my lips curling up into part of a smile. 

"It's just 505." I said, making her nod her head. Then, both of us tensed up when we heard something hit the door. Turning to one another, I could see her raise an eyebrow, both of us dead quiet as we waited to see if the sound would happen again. 

When it did, Boscha rolled her eyes. "Skara you don't need to knock! You can just walk in you know!" The three eyed witch called out, turning her gaze down to her scroll. 

The sound happened again, this one sounding more like a wet slap against the door than an actual knock. I furrowed my eyebrows together, turning back to look at Boscha. 

She waited till the sound happened one more time, then let out a loud sigh, getting up from her seat. "Gods, what did the twins lock the door?" She asked aloud, slowly dragging her feet over to the door. But before she reached for the handle, she drew out a quick spell with one hand, encasing that hand in a ball of flames. 

Her other hand wrapped around the doorknob, giving it a quick twist. "C'mon Skara the door wasn't even locked-" She said as she pulled open the door, quickly shutting up. 

Rather than being met with the silver haired witch, Boscha was met with a crumbling abomination standing in the doorway, carrying Amity in its arms. 

"Amity?!" I could see the pale witch's head perk up a little at her name, but she didn't say anything. Quickly getting off my seat, I ignored the jab of pain that went up my side and rushed over by Boscha, who was carefully trying to help Amity out of the abominations arms. 

"Am what happened?" Once Amity's feet touched the floor, the abomination crumbled away, barely leaving a trace of its existence. Amity was barely able to stand on her own, making Boscha reach for her arm to throw it over her shoulder, but then three eyed witch quickly recoiled away. 

One of Amity's arms was covered up to her shoulder in burns, making me wince at the sight. "Ammy what happened?" I asked her with panic laced in my voice, Boscha quickly taking her other arm, which was only covered with a few scattered bruises and cuts, throwing it over her shoulder. 

Amity looked up at me and I noticed not only how she was almost as white as a sheet, but also her black eye. Blood dripped from her nose, running down her neck and staining part of her shirt. It looked like it took her eyes a minute to focus, then she let out a dry chuckle. 

"I got my answers..." She said, her voice no louder than a whisper. Then, she let out another chuckle, this one louder than the last, but it quickly turned into a coughing fit. Boscha quickly started leading Amity over to a chair, trying to move as fast as Amity's limp would let her. 

"Ed! Em!" Boscha called out as she set Amity down on a chair. "First it was Luz and now you..." I could hear her say under her breath. I kneeled in front of Amity, gently waving a hand in front of her face to get her attention. 

"Hermosa, what did you do?" I asked her, patting down my pockets with shaky hands in hopes to feel a few pieces of paper and a pencil. When I didn't, I looked around before spotting some on the table. "Boscha! Pass me a pencil and some paper, please?" 

The three eyed witch turned to the pile, then back to me, nodding her head and quickly grabbing me the items. By the time she handed them off to me, Edric and Emira poked their heads around the corner, instantly seeing their injured sister sitting on the chair. 

"Mittens!" They both yelped, rushing over to the three of us. Amity's eyes flicked up to them for a minute, giving them a smirk. 

"What happened?!" Edric asked. I quickly started scribbling out healing spells, making sure not to accidentally activate them. "Mittens did you run into something out in the woods?" 

"Not something... someone." She said with a smile, making her sibling's eyes widen. I snapped my fingers a few times, catching Amity's attention. She lifted her head up to look at me, and I took a few of my spells, holding them in my hand. 

"Amity, hold still." I told her, gently pressing a paper over her nose before tapping the rune, watching it glow into a soft blue light before disappearing. Blood stopped dripping from the witch's nose, which she brought a hand up to wipe away the bit that was left behind. "Now, close your eye really quick." 

She did as I asked, and I gently placed a spell over her eye. The teal haired witch hissed at the contact but didn't do anything else when I tapped the rune. The dark bruise around her eye quickly disappeared and when she opened her eyes she had to blink a few times, probably to clear her vision from the bright light. 

"You guys are gonna have to take care of the bigger injuries." I said, my eyes darting to her arm for a minute before I turned my gaze back down to my papers. "I only know the basic healing spell. It's not gonna help that..." 

"If you think that's bad, you should see what I did to him." Amity said with a chuckle, which quickly turned to a wince as she reached up to place a hand over her chest, a tense breath getting sucked in between her teeth. "Though... that spell clearly took a lot out of me." 

"And yet you told us not to go chasing after him!" Emira hissed, drawing a medium sized spell circle with her hand. After she did that, a circle formed around Amity's injured arm, slowly moving up and down it to get rid of the burns. "But here you are, chasing after him and nearly getting burnt to a crisp!" 

"I didn't chase after him." Amity growled, turning her gaze down from her sister. "I saw him on my way here, and I think I just... snapped." 

"Wait, you saw Matt, and didn't think to call one of us?" Boscha piped up, her eyebrows furrowed together when the teal haired witch shook her head. I drew out a few more healing spells, placing them against Amity's injuries. "Well, where is he now?" 

"Probably trying to crawl to the market to get some help." Amity said, turning her gaze downward. I could see the dangerous glint that filled her eyes as a smile rose to her lips. "And when I say crawl, I mean that literally." 

"Hold on, wait." Edric took a step back, holding his hands up. "What did you do to him? Start talking, I want to know all the details." He quickly pulled up a seat, Boscha doing the same. 

"Well, after I stumbled upon him, the first thing I did was punch him across the face. It was just instinct." She mumbled, her ears twitching. I glanced down at her hands, noticing her bruised knuckles.

"And we're already off to a great start." Boscha said with a smirk, making Edric nod his head. 

"Then after that, I decided that instead of beating him to the brink of death like I promised, I'd get some answers instead." She hesitated for a moment, letting out a low whine as she scrunched her eyes shut. "So I decided to use a truth spell." 

"A truth spell?" Emira chimed in, her eyes widening slightly. "Which kind? You know those spells drain magic quickly!" Amity nodded her head. 

"I know they do Em, but it was better than beating the answers out of him. At least that way I'd know what he was saying wasn't something he pulled out of thin air." The teal haired witch argued. 

"So what'd you want to know?" Edric asked, catching Amity's attention. By now, Emira had finished healing Amity's arm and the circle that was around her arm before disappeared. "After all, there's about a million questions you could've asked him." 

Amity lifted her arm up, closing her hand a few times before giving Emira a smile as thanks. "Well, the first thing I wanted to figure out was what his original plan was back at the alleyway, and honestly his response was terrible." 

"Terrible how?" I asked, making the witch tense up for a moment. 

"Terrible as in, it was just a bad idea. His grand plan was first to have his friend kidnap Em, but when that fell through, he decided to try and kidnap me, then use that against you guys for a ransom. He said that he'd be able to wrack in more snails that way, and with more snails came more power." 

"I guess he isn't wrong there..." Edric said, making the youngest Blight nod her head. "You got enough snails and you're able to do practically anything." 

"Then he went on a tangent about how it was all to get more power. To prove to you guys that he was better than all of you." Amity rolled her eyes, leaning back slightly in her chair. "That is, until Luz stepped in..."

"And that threw his whole plan through a loop..." I muttered, my hand slowly moving down towards my side. I hovered it over the spot for a moment, then shook my head. 

"Yep. Really pissed him off too." Amity mumbled, her ears twitching for a moment. "And since he was starting to piss me off the more he talked, the only other thing I managed to ask him why he stuck around in the band if he hated us so much." 

"Honestly, I wanted to know the answer to that too." Boscha said as she crossed her legs, leaning back in her chair. "What? Was it just because we're popular?" 

"That's part of it, but most of it was because of how much snails he was getting. He just put up with us for the snails." 

"Go figure." Emira hissed, folding her arms over her chest. 

Amity let out a bit of a bitter chuckle, her ears pinned down. "Honestly though, are we really surprised?" She asked, the rest of the band shaking their heads. 

"If that was his plan I'm surprised he didn't go through with it earlier..." Boscha said, leaning her chin on her hand. "Then again, he's a coward so I'm not that surprised." 

The youngest Blight nodded her head, reaching up with one hand to rub the back of her neck. "After that, I pretty much lost it on him. I don't remember much from that though..." She mumbled, her free hand clenching into a fist. 

I brought my hand up to hers, gently resting it on top of hers before I started to rub soft circles onto the top of her hand. She gave me a smile, but Edric only scoffed. 

"Aw c'mon Mittens! You've gotta remember something!" Amity's smile dropped as she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I mean, unless after you snapped you blacked out." 

"I'm pretty sure I did..." She muttered, looking down at her free hand. "The one thing I can remember is that I summoned some giant abomination to beat him around... and I think that's what helped wear me out the most." 

"Did you at least clear the truth spell before you went on your rampage?" Emira asked her sister, who's eyebrows furrowed together for a moment before she shook her head. "Mittens you can't be serious..." 

"I wasn't thinking clearly! If I wasn't so angry I would've, but everything just boiled over and I... didn't try to stop it." She hesitated for a moment, bringing her gaze down to the ground. "And to be honest with you... that kinda scares me... that I didn't try to stop it." 

"It makes sense on why you didn't." Boscha pointed out, standing up from her chair and stretching her arms over her head. "I mean, he's the one who started all this." 

"Still... I could've killed him..." She muttered, her ears pinned down as far as they would go. I quickly laced my hand with her's giving it a little squeeze. 

"Correction, should've." Boscha said, placing a hand on Amity's shoulder. 

"Honestly sis, you would've done the Isles a favor if you did that." Emira said, making Edric laugh. Amity started to nod her head, then quickly shook it, clearing whatever thought she had. "And another thing, where's he at exactly?" 

"I'm not telling you that. You guys don't need to go out there." Edric and Emira both let out disappointed sighs, and I could see Boscha's eyes harden. "Knowing him, he's probably already called some of his other friends to go pick him up, you guys don't need to run into them." 

"So you get to have all the fun and we don't?" Edric said, making Amity glare. 

"It wasn't that fun Ed. I got hurt. I'm not gonna risk any of you guys getting hurt too." Her voice was cold, making Edric tense up, his smirk disappearing for a moment. Then, he was quick to put it back on, leaning back in his chair with a chuckle. 

"It was just a joke Mittens, lighten up a little!" He said as he folded his arms over his chest. The twins glanced at one another for a moment, but they didn't say a word. "Now, are we just gonna hang out here, or should we go practice with our instruments for a minute?" 

"Doesn't matter to me." Boscha said, looking back towards Emira, who only shrugged. 

"We can start now... well, actually we can just set up for now. We should wait for Skara to show before we start." The other three nodded their heads, already heading off to get their instruments. Amity and I stayed for a moment, not moving. 

When I realized the two of us were alone, it hit me that I could ask Amity what I wanted to ask. "Hey Ammy?" Her ears perked up, a pale, pink blush spreading across the tips of her ears. 

"What is it?" She asked back, her voice slightly higher. 

"I know you just got back from a fight, so you probably don't want to but..." I dragged out the last word, giving the Blight a goofy smile. "Wanna come with me after the practice? I wanted to go through that plan I told you about a few weeks ago." I paused for a moment, watching her golden eyes flicker. "Of course, if you don't want to, you don't have to, I just thought-" 

She gave my hand a squeeze, cutting me off. "It's nothing too crazy, right?" She asked me, making me think it over in my head. 

"I mean, you'd have to define crazy for me to give you a direct answer." I chuckled, making her laugh as well. 

"You know what? Sure. After practice. As long as it doesn't have to do with a trip to the market or stealing some demon relic." I let out a bit of a chuckle, standing up and offering my hand to the witch. 

"Well, I can promise it doesn't have to do with either of those things. In fact, I think you'll find this place relaxing." Amity gave me a gentle smile, taking my hand in her's and pulling herself out of the chair. 

"That's good to know." She said, making my smile grow a little wider. 

"Now!" I gently grabbed her wrist and started to pull her to the recording room. "Let's get this 'practice' started!" Amity let out a few chuckles, her ears lightly flapping. 

"You sure are excited to get this done and over with." She said, making me turn back to look at her. 

"Well of course I am! It's been forever since we've done this as a band! And besides, we've gotta find a good way to pass the time before we go do my plan!" She laughed again, her cheeks still dusted with that pink color. 

"Are you two gonna keep flirting or are we going to actually play?" Boscha asked, poking her head from around the corner. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks, and from the looks of it, the same thing was happening to Amity. 

We both looked at each other for a moment, then started to chuckle again before Amity dragged me off towards the recording room. "She's right, we should probably get started."


	30. Special moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to do it on an even number guys, I just had to.

Amity POV: 

I started dragging Luz off to the recording room, hearing both of my siblings' laughter float out of the room. Popping into the room, Edric and Emira were hanging out by the sound board while Boscha already had her bass over her shoulders. 

Letting go of Luz, I started to back out of the room to go grab my guitar. "Hey Ammy? You mind grabbing my sticks from the sound room, please?" I turned back to the drummer for a moment, giving her a nod before leaving the room. 

They were quick to pick up their conversation as I left, quickly heading off to the sound room and grabbing the things I needed. Heading back to the recording room, Luz's drumsticks in one hand and my guitar case in the other. 

Once I walked in, Luz took her stick from me, thanking me before giving me a wink and moving over towards the drums, which were already set up. Setting my guitar case down, I cracked open the case and took my guitar out, my gaze getting caught by the spare strings I bought awhile ago. 

The strings also caught Edric's attention, making him chuckle. "You still haven't given your guitar its new strings?" I shook my head, making him roll his eyes. "I'm surprised." 

"I was going to do it before the last show, but I kinda just put it off." I muttered, grabbing the strings from my case. Letting out a low sigh, I rolled my previously injured shoulder, feeling a twinge of pain roll down my arm.

"Again, I'm surprised." Edric said, leaning back in his seat. "You don't normally put stuff off Mittens." He told me with a smirk before Emira gave him a rough jab to the shoulder. My brother let out a hiss of pain, rubbing his shoulder and glaring at his twin. 

Hesitating for a moment, I grabbed one of the seats by the sound board and started dragging it into the other part of the room. "Well, since we're waiting for Skara, I've got the time to restring it." Both of them nodded, then returned to having a conversation, Edric asking why Emira decided to jab him. 

Walking into the other room, I found Boscha and Luz chatting with one another. "Oh! Wait here's one!" Luz quickly twirled her sticks in her hand for a moment, then started to play a short little bit that was made of a mix of the bass, the snare, and the crash. 

It went on for maybe ten seconds, then Luz cracked up laughing, carefully resting her head on part of the drums while she struggled to catch her breath. Boscha and I turned to one another, giving each other a confused look. 

"What's so funny?" I asked, watching as Luz's head snapped up to look at me. She was still laughing, trying to stop for a moment to explain. 

"Wait, you don't get it?" She managed to ask between chuckles, making Boscha and I shake our head. "It's the hu-" She cut herself off as she continued to laugh, then she paused for a moment. "Oh wait... you guys wouldn't know what that is..." 

"Human thing?" Boscha asked, making Luz nod her head. A few more chuckles escaped the drummer as she continued to twirl one of her drumsticks.

"Yeah it's a human thing." Luz mumbled, then chuckled again. "I'd have to show it to you guys sometime." She suddenly froze up, a warm red spreading across her cheeks and ears before she let out a cough. "The intro! I'd have to show you the intro! The site is just... yeah..." 

"Okay then..." Boscha muttered, softly shaking her head. I placed my chair down by a wall, taking a seat and starting to restring my guitar. "So why are we doing this again?" Boscha asked me, making me shrug. 

"Why not?" I asked back with a bit of a smirk, looking up from my guitar for a moment. The three eyed witch squinted at me for a moment, then rolled her eyes before she started to pluck a few of her strings. "Besides, we're just rolling through a couple of songs. It'll keep us from going rusty." 

"We won't be rusty if we don't play for a month." Boscha said, making me shrug. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but instead, she stayed quiet, the sound of her bass soon filling the room to get rid of the silence. 

I got through taking off the old strings before I heard Luz gasp. "Amity!" She suddenly exclaimed, making me snap my head up to look at her. She frantically waved me over, an excited grin on her face. "C'mere real quick!" 

"Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as my ears twitched. Luz continued to wave me over, this time with a bit more intensity. 

"Just come here real quick!" She said, making me roll my eyes before standing up. Carefully leaning my guitar against the wall, I slowly made my way over to the drummer, who's eyes lit up as she quickly got out of her seat as well. Boscha watched us from her spot, the sound of her bass no longer echoing in the room. 

We both stood in front of her drums, where she stood tall with her hands clasped behind her back. I gave her an amused smirk, watching as she lightly bounced up and down. "So what did you need me over here for?" 

She let out a little chuckle, giving me a bit of a cheeky smile. "Well, while we wait for Skara, I figured I should do a warm up, and I need your help." I raised an eyebrow, folding my arms over my chest. 

"And how am I supposed to help?" I asked, making her smile grow wider. 

Her hands gently grabbed onto my shoulders as she gave me a toothy grin. "Like this!" Then, she gave me a kiss on the cheek, holding there long enough to make my ears start to flap, my face burning. Luz then pulled away from me gently placed her head against my chest. 

I stood there, practically stiff as a board, sputtering as I tried to figure out what to say. My ears were flapping so fast I could feel the soft breeze coming from them. Even though my heart was now pounding loudly in my ears, I could hear Luz softly mumbling something under her breath. 

Then, she pulled away from me, giving me another toothy smile as she quickly darted back over behind her drums, her flannel nearly getting caught on the drum set. Twirling her sticks in her hands, she was quick to make a fast beat with the bass drum. 

She let the beat go on for a moment, then started to do a pattern between the toms and the snares, keeping the bass going as the background. "Thanks Ammy!" She said loudly over the drums before fulling turning her focus to her drumming. 

Boscha slowly walked over to me, placing her hand on my shoulder and making me jump. "You good Am?" She asked, but I didn't give her a response. The three eyed witch waited for a moment, then gave me a little shake, hoping to break me out of my trance. "Luz I think you broke her!" 

Luz wrapped up her quick drumming session with a loud hit to the cymbals, making me jump. I quickly brought my hands up to both of my ears, holding them up so they'd stop flapping. 

Blinking a few times, I looked back up at Luz, seeing the smile on her face. "What was that for?" I squeaked, quickly clasping a hand over my mouth at the sound of my voice. 

"My warm up, duh." She chuckled, carefully leaning against the drums. "I needed a fast beat for the background and what would be better than your flustered heartbeat?" Boscha snickered, making me glare at the three eyed witch. "Y'know, if I can remember that pattern, I might be able to make a song out of that!" 

Her statement made me flush a deeper shade of red. "Oh my gods..." Boscha shook her head, her snickers turning into chuckles. "You two flirting is just... wow. Geez Am, you're really soft aren't you?" 

"Then again... your heartbeat kinda has a similar beat to 505 in a way, so I might need to tweak it..." Luz mumbled, tapping one of her sticks against her head, clearly off in her own little world. 

I scoffed, folding my arms over my chest. "Don't act like you're any better Boscha. I've seen you around Willow." The witch's ears went down, making a smirk rise to my lips. 

"Hey hold on!" She quickly stammered, a blush slowly rising to her face. "We may flirt a lot but not as much as you guys do!" 

"Says the one who's constantly on her scroll messaging her." I said, watching as Boscha's eyes widened. She quickly turned away from me, her eyebrows tightly furrowed together. 

"Jokes on you, we haven't done that for a few days..." There was a bit of longing laced in her voice, making me perk up. Boscha didn't turn to look at me, rather, she kept her gaze to the side, her arms tightly folded against her chest. 

"Why's that?" Luz asked, finally pulled out of her world by Boscha's statement. The pink haired witch let out a sigh, slowly turning to face Luz. "Nothing bad happened between the two of you, right?"

Boscha shook her head. "No, nothing bad happened. It's just because she's up at some cabin with her dads, some place with no signal." She rubbed her eyes, her ears twitching slightly. "It's been two days..." 

"Aw, someone's yearning for her flower~ Now who were you calling soft a minute ago?" I teased, making Luz chuckle. Boscha shot me a sharp glare, her lips a tight, thin line. 

"Oh hardy har." She said, her voice dripping thick with sarcasm. "Go on, keep teasing Blight and your siblings might just magically end up with some blackmail to use against you." 

I tensed up slightly at her threat, but I only rolled my eyes. "You have fun trying to get that." I muttered, going back over to my guitar and picking it up, going to finish giving it new strings. Luz started drumming again, this new beat slower than the last one. 

By the time I finished giving my guitar its new strings, Skara popped her head into the doorway. "Hey guys! Sorry I'm super late!" I raised my head up to look at the sound director, noticing the look of worry on her face. 

"You're fine Skara, it's not like it's a legit practice." Boscha said, catching the silver haired witch's attention. She turned back to me, a look on her face that asked if Boscha was right. I nodded my head, making her sigh in relief. "What were you doing anyway?" 

"Just taking care of old projects! I kinda just got sick of staring at them in the corner of my room, so I figured I'd get them done." I nodded my head again, then the silver haired with gave us all a quick two finger salute and a wink before she disappeared back around the corner. "Anyways, I'll hurry and set up the sound board, then give you guys a signal!" 

"Perfect!" Luz called back after her, twirling her drumsticks in between her fingers once again. She managed to pull it off for a few seconds, then nearly smacked herself in the face with one of them. Instead, before she got hit, she pulled her hand back and threw the stick against the wall. 

Luz sat, a defeated look on her face for a moment before she let out a sigh and picked up the stick, rolling it in her fingers a few times while mumbling under her breath. "You get your new strings put in place or what?" Boscha asked me, taking my attention off of Luz. I nodded my head, slinging my guitar over my shoulders. 

"Still gotta tune it..." I muttered, plucking a few strings and wincing at the sour notes. "Won't be too long." Boscha rolled her eyes, plucking a few notes that were deeper and sweeter than my own. 

"And here I thought you liked getting things done as fast as possible." She said with a smirk, making me glance up at her for a moment before rolling my eyes. Tweaking and plucking the strings again, I watched out of the corner of my eye as Skara gave us a thumbs up, telling us that the sound board was ready. 

"So what song are we starting with?" Luz asked, barely tapping her sticks against the snare drum. Boscha shrugged, making Luz shrug as well. "Well? What's it gonna be Ammy?" 

"What do you guys want to start with?" I asked back, finishing up with tuning my guitar. "Cause honestly, it doesn't really matter to me what one we play." 

Boscha and Luz looked towards one another, Luz raising an eyebrow at the witch. "505 sound like a good start?" Boscha asked Luz, making her nod. 

"Sounds like a good start." I said, standing up and giving my chair a soft kick to push it back. I turned to look towards Skara, giving her a nod and letting her know that we were ready. "Alright you two, ready?" They both gave me a nod. "Great, let's go." 

The three of us were quick to roll through 505, Luz saying how she was surprised she went through it without messing up once we finished. Then after that, we played Still Into You and Blood in the Water.

Once we wrapped up those song, Ed popped his head into the room. "Mittens, we said a few songs." He told me with a smirk, making me roll my eyes. 

"That was a few songs Ed." I said, my voice slightly hoarse. I then turned to the others. "Any other songs you guys want to play?" They both hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. 

"I'm fine with whatever." Boscha said, readjusting her grip on her bass slightly. "Though I will say, we should probably wrap this up soon before your brother eats all the snacks out in the main room." Edric gasped, giving Boscha an offended look. 

"You brought snacks?" I turned to my brother, raising an eyebrow. "What kind?" 

"You didn't..." He trailed off, then smacked his forehead. "Right... you were distracted. Anyways, I brought pretty much anything I could get from the Snack Shack, including your favorite!" I perked up a little, feeling my ears barely start to flap. 

"Well then, we can call it good here." I turned to the other's, watching as Boscha gave me a nod. Luz nodded her head as well, but she was still tapping her drum sticks against her drums, humming some kind of tune under her breath. "Luz? You coming?" I asked. 

She blinked a few times, then quickly nodded her head as a nervous chuckle escaped her lips. "Yeah, I'm coming. Sorry, zoned out for a minute there." Luz let out another chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck. Boscha was already taking off her bass, heading off to the sound room to put it away. 

Luz and I quickly followed after her, the drummer going over to the twins and Skara to start up a conversation while I put my guitar in its case. Leaving the four of them to chat, I made my way to the sound room, nearly running into Boscha as she exited the room. 

The three eyed witch headed off to the main room, and shortly after I could hear a mix of my siblings' voices pass by. There was a moment of silence, then another set of footsteps passed by the door. 

Leaving the sound room, I found both of my siblings sitting at the table with Skara, the three of them each holding a snack in their hands. Boscha was leaning against the wall closest to Emira, her arms folded over her chest as she nodded her head to whatever Skara was saying. Then there was Luz, who sat at one of the bean bag chairs with her song book, scribbling down a few lines. 

I went over by Luz, grabbing one of the snacks that Edric brought along before I sat down in the other bean bag chair. Taking a bite of the snack, I let out a content hum as the sweet flavor spread across my tongue. 

My ears twitched as I halfway listened to Emira talking, telling some story of some griffon ride Viney took her on once. Luz tapped her pencil against her chin, her eyebrows rightly furrowed together. "Hey Amity?" She asked, catching my attention. 

Before I could give her an answer, she turned and laid back, resting most of her back on my lap. How that was comfortable, being spread out over the two seats like that, I have no idea. Tensing up, I nearly choked on the bite of food in my mouth, but I managed to swallow it down. "What?" 

She tapped the pencil against her chin again, then lowered her book down with a sigh. "What were we gonna call this song again? I have four or so titles scribbled at the top, but I can't remember which one you decided on..." 

I glanced over the book for a minute, my eyes quickly scanning over the lyrics. "Oh. Arms Tonite, that's the title." I muttered, making Luz smile. She quickly crossed off the rest of the name ideas at the top. 

"Thanks Ammy!" She said, but she didn't try to move from my lap. I stayed tense for a moment, then slowly started to relax. 

"You've already wrote another song?" Emira asked, leaning her head on the heel of her hand. Luz nodded her head, turning the book in their direction for them to see. I could see Edric squinting in an attempt to read what it said, but I don't think he was able to. 

"This one's pretty much halfway done!" Luz said with a smile, turning the book back towards herself. "This one just needs a musical score. But, the other song I wrote is completely done, we've just got to start practicing it sometime!" 

Edric snorted, now leaning his chin on his fist. "Ah, you mean Mittens' song, got it." 

"That's the one!" Luz said. I shot a glare at my brother, watching as he chuckled. 

"You aren't funny Ed." I growled, leaning back slightly. He rolled his eyes, sitting up in his chair before folding his hands together under his chin. 

"Personally Mittens, I think I'm hilarious." He told me, which only made me roll my eyes. "What? It's the truth." Emira chuckled, quickly biting her lip to get herself to stop. Skara looked between the two of them, then to Boscha, the three eyed witch only softly shaking her head.

"And personally I think you're better when you're quiet." I hissed, drawing a quick spell to float a snack up to his mouth. He looked surprised at first, but he didn't complain and happily chewed the bite in his mouth.

"Aw, Mittens is afraid we're gonna poke fun at her and her girlfriend~" Emira teased, picking up for our brother's silence. "In fact..." She turned to Edric, a sly smirk slowly rising to her lips. She then turned to Boscha, giving her the same look before turning back to me. "I know a good way to get blackmail!" 

Before I could ask what she meant, both her and Ed drew a spell circle, leaving Luz and I floating in the air. I let out a yelp and Luz dropped her song book, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Boscha dart down the hallway. 

"Put us down!" I squeaked, making both of them laugh. Luz seemed to be enjoying her time in the air, carefully spinning around as a few soft chuckles escaped her lips. 

"Oh we'll put you two down alright!" Edric said, biting back a laugh. "In fact, you two will love it!" They started to drag us down the hallway, where Boscha stood in front of the recording room door, holding it open with a smirk. 

"No! Ed! Em! Don't you dare!" I squeaked, which only made them let out a laugh. 

"Wait what?" Luz asked, looking at me, then at the siblings. 

"Have fun you two!" Emira said as we walked up to the recording room. They quickly put us down and before I could blink, both of them shoved us into the room. Then, right as I turned around to yell at them, they slammed the door shut in my face. "We'll let you out in a bit!" 

"Emira!" I hissed, grabbing the door handle and giving it a harsh pull. The door was jammed tight, making me growl. "You three are so dead when we get out of here!" 

"Sorry sis, can't hear you, we'll talk to you when we decide to let you out!" I heard Edric say, his voice slowly growing more distant as the three of them walked away. I could feel my ears twitch, my face probably a bright red in anger. 

"Well... guess I can say now that I've played seven minutes in heaven." I heard Luz say, making me turn around to face her. She gave me a shrug, moving over towards the door and giving it a little tug. 

"I want to get out of here." I muttered, giving the door another rough pull. Luz placed a hand on my shoulder, lightly pulling me away from the door. 

"Don't hurt yourself." She said, making me huff. "And besides, with the two of us in here, there's no way for them to get any blackmail, right?" I thought about it for a moment, then nodded my head. 

Folding my arms across my chest, I glared at the door, making Luz give my shoulder a squeeze. "You'd be surprised..." I muttered, my ears going down when Luz started to chuckle. 

"Look, I doubt they'd be able to. So why don't we..." She took a hold of my hand, gently tugging me towards the corner of the room. Then, she took a seat with her back against the wall, patting the spot next to her. "just relax while we still can?" 

I looked down at her for a moment, then sighed, letting my back hit the wall as I slowly slid down it, sitting down shoulder to shoulder with Luz. Looking over at her, she gave me a toothy grin, then swiveled around so that she would be laying in my lap once again. 

Tensing up, I looked down at her for a moment, letting out a little squeak when she shot me a wink. "Why so tense Ammy?" She asked, making me roll my eyes. 

"Just you being... you." I muttered, gently placing a hand on her forehead. She gave me a smile, closing her eyes and relaxing. Reaching up with one of her hands, she pulled her beanie off of her head, setting it down on the floor by my legs. 

Hesitating for a moment, I slowly started to run a hand through Luz's messy hair, making her hum softly in response. "That feels nice..." She told me, making my cheeks heat up.

We sat there for a little while, I'm not really sure for how long. It was comfortable, most of our time spent in a nice silence. Luz was halfway asleep in my lap, leaning into my touch as I ran my hands through her hair. 

"Your hair's soft." I whispered after a bit of time, making Luz barely open her eyes. She nodded, her lips tugging up into another smile. 

"I know it is." She said, making me roll my eyes. A sudden chill rolled through the room, making me shiver. Luz sat up, raising an eyebrow. "What's up?" 

Rubbing my arms, I shook my head, feeling my ears twitch. "Nothing. Just got a little cold." I muttered, making her perk up for a moment. She looked around for a second, her eyebrows furrowed together. 

"It's not that cold." She muttered, a chuckle quickly rising up from my throat after that statement. 

"You say that because you're always warm." I could see Luz rub her arm, testing what I was saying. "It's fitting for someone like you." Luz looked down for a moment, her eyebrows still tightly furrowed together before her eyes suddenly lit up. 

"Wait! I've got a solution!" She quickly stood up, fiddling with the flannel knot around her waist. Once she managed to get it loose, she quickly pulled it out of the knot and away from her, giving it a quick shake. "Here, wear this!" 

She handed me the flannel, which I held carefully in my hands for a moment just staring at it before I looked back up at her. "Are you sure?" 

"Of course I'm sure! Besides, it's not like I was wearing it." Luz gave me another toothy smile, making a smile rise up to my own lips. Then, I quickly slid on the piece of clothing, immediately noticing how much larger it was on me but I didn't care. 

I left it on like a jacket, not bothering to button it up. The sleeves were warm from being around her waist, but the rest of it was still kind of cold. I snuggled up in the flannel, feeling the warmth spread across my cheeks. "Thanks Luz..." I mumbled, quickly noticing how strongly the flannel smelt like Luz. "Well of course it would, it's her shirt after all." I thought to myself.

Then, the door was kicked open, roughly slamming against the wall and making Luz and I jump in surprise. Edric and Emira popped their heads into the room, smirks on both of their faces. "Hey you two~" Emira said, her eyes darting between the two of us. 

"What'cha doing?" Edric followed up with, wiggling his eyebrows slightly. I placed a hand over my heart, noticing just how hard it was pounding. "Do you guys even know how long you've been in here for?" He asked, making Luz chuckle.

"I assume for awhile, since I almost fell asleep." Luz said as she rubbed the back of her neck. Then, she offered a hand out to me, which I quickly took. She helped me, straightening out a bit of the flannel. "Well, you ready to go now that they've freed us from our prison?" She asked me, putting on a bit of an accent. 

Rolled my eyes, I gave her a light shove, bending down and quickly picking up her beanie before tossing it at her. "Of course I am. Besides, my legs were starting to fall asleep from sitting like that for so long." 

"Sorry!" Luz said with another chuckle, spinning her beanie on her finger. She quickly went towards the door, pausing for a moment and leaning close to my siblings. "Also, you might want to run." 

They both looked over at her confused, then laughed. "Please! What's Mittens gonna do to us?" I slowly walked over to the two of them, watching as Luz walked out into the main room. 

I placed a hand on both of their shoulders, leaning in close to both of their ears. "I hope you know that I know both of your greatest fears. I will use that against you." 

Edric tensed up for a moment, then laughed, shrugging my hand off of his shoulder. "Yeah right Mittens, what are you gonna do?" He taunted with his ears pinned down. 

Pausing for a moment, I then out a little chuckle. "Oh Ed, you act like I would hesitate in creating a nice black void for you and you alone." I could see his look falter for a moment, but he was quick to cover it. 

"Like I would be scared of that!" He said, the confidence in his voice wavering slightly. 

"Well then, why don't we test it right now?" I asked him, his eyes quickly widening at the suggestion. He took a few steps back, then quickly darted over towards the main room. 

"On second thought, I think I hear Skara calling for me! Gonna go see what she need!" He said quickly before disappearing. Emira chuckled, folding her arms over her chest as she leaned against the wall. 

"Nice going scaring him Mittens." She told me, making me look up at her. "Honestly, it's pretty easy to scare him though." 

I gave her a smile, tilting my head slightly. "You're saying that like you aren't the same way." I told her, making her look over at me. We stared at each other for a moment, and I slightly tilted my head. 

Her eyes darted towards the main room for a moment, then back to me. There was a moment of silence, then Emira let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, sure Mittens..." She mumbled, her eyes holding a subtle hint of fear. 

She fake coughed, then quickly walked towards the main room. I let out a bit of a chuckle, softly shaking my head and following after her. Meeting the five of them out in the main room, I found Edric and Skara setting up a game Hexes Hold'em with Emira, Boscha, and Luz spectating. 

"Y'know, I've never understood this game..." I heard Luz say, making Emira perk up. 

"Well then, what if I were to teach you? We could even make small bets." She gave Luz a soft nudge, a familiar smile on her face. I quickly walked over to her, giving her a rough shove in the back. 

"You are not stealing snails off of Luz." I hissed, making her laugh. "You can do it to Boscha cause she actually knows how to play." 

"Hey!" Boscha hissed, making Skara chuckle. Edric's eyes quickly glanced over his cards, raising an eyebrow up at Skara. 

"So, you ready to lose?" He asked her, making her chuckle. She placed her cards face down, shooting my brother an intense look. 

"I should be asking you that." She told him, a quick look of surprise flashing across his face before he put on his steely poker face. "Now, who's up first?" 

Moving over to Luz's side, I gave her a light nudge. "So how much longer until we head off to do your idea?" 

"Uh..." Luz paused, pulling out her scroll and glancing at the time. "Maybe a couple of hours?" 

Edric perked up for a moment, turning his attention away from Skara as she placed down her cards. "You guys have plans? Since when?" 

"Since like, a couple of hours ago." I said, making him raise an eyebrow. "It's Luz's plan anyways." 

"Oh... a plan like what?" Emira asked, startling us as she appeared by our sides. She leaned slightly on our shoulders, wiggling her eyebrows slightly. 

"It's a surprise plan!" Luz said a bit defensively, lightly shrugging Emira off of her shoulder. "I'm just taking Amity somewhere, that's all." Emira's eyes widened slightly, but she was quick to cover it. 

"Just be careful wherever you're going." She said, and I could barely hear the hint of concern in her voice. "And make sure you have fun too!" Emira quickly added, the concern in her voice now gone. 

"Don't worry, we'll be careful. I'll bring along some spells just in case, and if all else fails, Amity always has her magic!" I nodded my head, but Emira softly shook her head. 

"Since you nearly burnt yourself out earlier, only use your magic if necessary." Emira told me, making me nod my head again. "I'm serious sis. Draining your magic that quickly hurts, a lot." 

"Sounds like that comes from experience." Boscha piped up, making Emira turn around to face her. Edric snickered, his cards that he laid on the table suddenly springing to life along with Skara's. 

"It does come from experience." He said, placing the cards in his hand face down on the table. "I remember that day Em, don't you?" Emira scowled, but Edric placed a hand on his head, leaning back dramatically in his chair. "Gods I remember how dramatic you were too." 

"Do not-" Emira started, quickly getting cut off by Edric faking a whimper. 

"It's like someone's trying to kill me from the inside out!" Edric said, making his voice obnoxiously high pitched in an attempt to mimic Emira. "Ed please, just give me my scroll so I can call Viney!" 

Emira attempted to swipe at him to get him to shut up, but he barely managed to avoid her, sticking his tongue out in response. Skara gave the table a few rough taps to gain his attention again, making him turn his focus back to his game rather than his twin. 

My sister grumbled under her breath, her arms tightly folded over her chest. Then, she took a deep breath, softly shaking her head before looking back over at me. "Like I was saying, draining your magic like that hurts, so only use it if necessary."

"Yeah, don't need you coming back home like Emira did." Edric said, not looking over at us. Emira shot him a glare, slowly going red in the face. 

"What'd you even do to drain your magic like that?" Skara asked, taking her eyes off her cards for a minute. 

"It's not that important..." Emira grumbled, making Edric snort. 

"She was trying to be a showoff. Guess who she was showing off to, I bet you'll never get it." Edric said, Emira quickly giving him a rough punch in the shoulder. 

"So help me gods if you don't shut up-" She sputtered for a minute, her hands clenching in tight fists. "You know I have blackmail on you that I can show Mittens right?" 

Edric's eyes widened as he spun around to face Emira, who blinked as she realized what she said. "You have blackmail on Ed?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow, making the two of them look over at me. 

"I... yeah I do but..." She froze up for a moment, trying to find the words to say. "Honestly it's not good though, I've got to get something better." 

"What's it even of?" Boscha asked, a familiar glint in her eyes. Emira blinked again, shaking her head a couple of times. 

"Just of him being a dumbass." She said, giving him a shove. "Then again, when is he not one?" Edric let out a laugh, then shoved Emira back, nearly knocking her off balance. 

I stared at the two of them for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever..." I mumbled, turning to face Luz. "Well, just let me know whenever you're ready to go." 

She gave me a smile, resting a hand on my shoulder. "Will do! For now though, why don't we watch how this game will play out?" She motioned towards Edric and Skara, who's cards had once again sprung to life. 

"Sure." I said with a smile, grabbing one of the bean bag chairs and pulling it closer to the table. I took a seat on the chair, Luz quickly taking a seat in my lap to watch the game, smirking when she saw me get red in the face. 

We all watched the few games that the two of them played, all of us surprised by how close they both were. They were practically both at each other's throats for the entire game, when one was ahead the other wasn't even a step behind. 

But, after about twenty minutes of playing, Skara came out victorious. 

"That has got to be the longest game of Hexes Hold'em I've ever seen..." Emira said when the fire popped up with Skara's name. Edric slumped back in his chair in defeat, throwing his remaining cards in the air.

He took a second to pull himself together, then sat up, putting on his usual smile. "You're tough to beat, probably harder to beat than Emira." 

"You've never beat me before." Emira said, folding her arms over her chest. 

"That's besides the point." Edric said, clenching his teeth together. "But, since you put up such a fight, here." He passed the sound director thirty or so snails, taking the witch off guard. 

"But we didn't bet anything?" She said, looking down at the small pile of snails before looking back up at my brother. He shrugged, pushing the snails a little closer to the silver haired witch. 

"Doesn't matter. I feel like I need to give you something for putting on such a show." Edric then laughed, making me roll my eyes. Even though he was covering it up, I could tell there was a lingering feeling of defeat rolling in his chest. 

"Alright you loser, move over. I wanna try her." Emira said, shoving Edric out of his seat. "That is, if you're willing to play another round?" Skara quickly nodded her head, reluctantly taking the snails that Edric had laid out. "Great! Now, you wanna make any bets?" 

Edric stood up and dusted himself off, moving over by Boscha, who gave him a soft nudge. "Wanna make bets on who will win?" She asked him, not taking her eyes off of the game table. He chuckled, giving her a nudge back as he nodded his head. 

Luz suddenly tapped my shoulder, pulling my attention over to her. "We can leave now if you want. Unless you wanna watch how this round plays out." She told me, making my eyes widen a bit. Instead of saying anything, I gave her a quick nod, making a wide smile form on her face. 

She stood up, holding a hand out for me to take. Then, she helped me stand up, quickly reaching over the table to grab a small notebook and a pencil. Emira's eyes followed her, turning her head to the two of us. "You two finally leaving?" 

We both nodded our heads, making her smile. "Don't die while you two are out there." Boscha said, pushing herself off the wall. 

"I promise we won't!" Luz chirped, quickly grabbing me by the hand and dragging me towards the studio's front door. "See you guys around! Have fun with your games!" 

"See ya guys!" The rest of the band called after us, all of them waving us off. The two of us quickly left the studio, gently closing the front door behind us. Luz took a deep breath, her fingers intertwining with mine as she gave my hand a squeeze. 

"So!" She started, letting out her breath as a loud exhale before turning to me with a bright smile. "You ready?" She shoved the notebook and pencil in her back pocket, then started to gently pull me forward. "We don't need to rush, but we do need to get there before sunset." 

"Where even are we going?" I asked her, which only made her chuckle and shake her head. 

"That's a surprise!" She told me, lightly booping my nose. "I will say though, you know the place, and it's pretty special." I wracked my brain for a place that matched Luz's description, but nothing was instantly coming to mind. "Oh, and if it gets too hot, you can pass me the flannel if you want. I won't mind." 

"Oh, it's alright, I'll be fine." I muttered, taking my free hand and sliding it inside the large sleeve, gently rubbing the fabric between my fingers. "Besides... it smells like you." 

"What was that Ammy bear?" My ears went down at the nickname, which only made a smile rise to Luz's face. 

"I don't even know what a bear is, but I have a feeling that was a corny human nickname." I said, lightly shoving her. She didn't move very far since our hands were still together. 

"It might be." She shrugged, giving me a look that told me it totally was. "But hey, you have no proof of anything." I rolled my eyes, giving her hand a squeeze. 

The two of us walked in a comfortable silence for a little bit, our hands softly swaying with our movements. After a bit of walking, I finally turned to look at Luz. "So, how far away is this mystery location?" 

"Not very far." She said, looking ahead for a moment before looking over at me. "But, we're gonna be taking the long route!" 

"Why?" I asked, watching as she turned her gaze ahead once again. 

"Well one, it'll give us more time to just relax and chat, and two, the quicker route goes by the market and well... I don't really want to go that way..." She trailed off, but I got what she meant. Quickly, she shook her head, then picked up the pace a little. "Anyways, we should pick up the pace just a bit." 

"Alright then." I said, walking as fast as Luz was to keep up. We fell into another bout of silence, this one just as comfortable as the last. This bout of silence lasted a bit longer than the last one. 

Finally, we made it to the edge of the woods, where I could see Luz's eyes light up in excitement. "We're getting close! C'mon!" 

"Luz we've got to be careful when we go into the woods." I muttered, cautiously looking around. "We don't want to attract some kind of creature." 

"C'mon Ammy, we aren't gonna get jumped by some creature." She said with confidence, waving off my concern.

"Now that you said that, you've probably jinxed us." I said, making her eyes widen. 

"Oh shoot..." She muttered, quickly glancing around at the forest floor. "This isn't soomite territory right?" She asked, making me shake my head. "Okay, good... so we might be fine." 

"Let's just keep moving, and if anything makes a sound that you know wasn't one of us, just bolt." I muttered, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. She nodded her head, then continued to lead me forward. 

By the time we made it to a wide clearing, the sun was hanging low in the sky. It wasn't low enough for the sun to be setting, but it wouldn't be long until it would be. "Okay! Now, I want you to close your eyes!" I looked over at her, giving her a look of uncertainty. "Don't worry, I'll guide you." 

"Okay..." I muttered, closing my eyes, then taking my free hand and placing it over my eyes. "How's this?" 

"Perfect!" Luz chirped, giving my other hand a squeeze. However, we didn't immediately start walking again. Instead, I could hear her hum, her foot lightly tapping on the ground. "Actually..." She let go of my hand, almost making me open my eyes. 

There was a moment of silence, then Luz lightly tapped my shoulder. "Yeah?" 

"Just letting you know, I'm gonna carry you." She said simply, making my eyebrows furrow together. 

"Wait, you're gonna what-" I started before I let out a yelp. 

"And scoop!" She said, her hands gripping under my legs, her back pressed against my front. I loosely wrapped my arms around her neck to hold on, hearing her chuckle. "Still don't open your eyes. I'll let you know when you can." 

Before I gave her a response, she started to move, lightly bouncing with each step. I let out a low squeak, still trying to process what just happened. "You good back there Ammy? You've been quiet." She asked, her voice a little breathy from carrying me. 

"Just peachy..." I said, my voice a little higher than usual. 

"Alright! Just making sure!" She said cheerily, adjusting her grip on my legs slightly. A few minutes went by, then Luz started to slow down before finally coming to a stop. "Okay, I'm gonna put you down." 

"Okay..." I said, feeling her hands slowly let go of my legs. I made sure to let my grip loosen once she let go of me fully so that I wouldn't accidentally choke her. 

"You can open your eyes now." She told me, her voice soft but full of excitement. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times to clear my slightly blurry vision. Once my vision was cleared, I couldn't help but gasp. 

"The grom tree?" I softly asked, Luz vigorously nodding her head. 

"Yep! Figured this would be the best place to take you to do something special!" She said as she grabbed my hand and started to pull me forward. "Now c'mon! We can go hang out at the base for a bit before the sun starts to set! That's when the real fun begins!" 

"Alright..." I said, feeling my ears start to flap. She quickly dragged me over to the base of the tree, pressing her back against it before she slid down to the floor, patting the spot next to her. 

The floor was decorated with scattered pink petals, a few of them drifting down from the tree and twirling delicately through the air before they softly landed on the floor below. 

I sat down next to Luz and she quickly made it so that her shoulder was touching mine. Her hand reached out, resting on top of mine, making me tense up slightly. 

"So now what else is part of your plan?" I asked, her brown eyes meeting up with mine. She shrugged, looking out ahead of us at the landscape for a moment. 

"Well, most of my plan is gonna happen at sunset, and we've just gotta wait until then, so... honestly I don't know. We can just hang out here for a bit if you want." I nodded my head, slowly leaning my head onto her shoulder. 

"That'd be nice..." I said softly, hearing her breathing hitch for a moment before it returned back to normal, her heart starting to beat a little faster. Her fingers lightly drummed on the top of my knuckles, then they suddenly stopped. 

"Wanna hear about a story Eda told me?" She asked, making me look up at her. The excitement in her eyes was clear, and how could I say no to that?" 

"Sure." I said with a smile, making her smile grow even wider. 

"Great! Get comfortable, this one's kinda long!" Her eyes lit up again, then she pulled me closer to her, making me sit on her lap. "How's that Ammy?" I squeaked in response, making her chuckle. 

Clearing my throat, I nodded my head a few times. "It's fine..." I said, my voice still high pitched. My arms slowly snaked up to the top of her shoulders, loosely wrapping around them again as I rested my head on her shoulder. "Are you comfortable?" 

"Totally!" She said, keeping one of her hands in front of us. The other, she slowly brought up so that it was cupping the side of my face, lightly scratching the spot by my jawline and my ear, a purr rising in my throat. "Now, I've got to tell you about Eda's market adventure the other day!" 

Luz was quick to delve into her story, filling me in on every little detail that she could remember. And even though I was sitting on her lap, her free hand was constantly moving. 

My eyes were halfway open, not because I was getting bored of Luz's entertaining story, rather I just found the whole situation calming. Well, about as calming as listening to a story about the owl lady evading a bunch of guards while someone rubs the sensitive spot by your ears can get. 

"And then, Eda was all like bam!" She pretended to swing a staff down on one of the invisible guards, making me slowly nod my head. "Once she got that one down, the other two tried to corner her, but you and I both know you can't corner someone like Eda!" 

"Mhm..." I hummed, cutting off my purring for a moment as I softly smiled at her antics. 

"So instead of doing some kind of fire spell or some sort of illusion to throw the guards off, she drew out a light spell! A light spell, can you believe that?" She asked me as her hand moved in circles as if she was drawing out the spell herself. 

"It's Eda we're talking about here Luz, are you really surprised? She'd do anything to mess with the guards a bit." Luz nodded her head, but her hand still moved in the circles. 

"You're right, but still! Just a light spell!" She moved her hand in a circle again, but this time I perked up. For a second, I swore I could see the start of a dark green spell circle forming. Blinking a few times, it disappeared. 

Luz didn't say anything about it, meaning that she either didn't see it, or it didn't exist in the first place. I moved my arms away from Luz, softly rubbing my eyes. The drummer noticed my movements, pausing in her story for a moment, then glancing up ahead. 

"Oh geez!" She exclaimed, making me tense up in response. "It's almost sunset! C'mon! We gotta do the next part of the plan." She gently pushed me off of her, then bounced up to her feet. 

The drummer quickly helped me to my feet, looking up at the tree with her hands on her hips. "What is the other part of the plan exactly?" I asked her, which she only chuckled. 

"We climb the tree until we get at a high enough branch, then we watch the sunset!" She said, making my eyes widen. "It's easy peasy! And we should probably start climbing now so we can make it up there fast enough." 

"Are you out of your mind?" I asked her, making her turn to me. 

"Of course I'm not!" She said, making me sigh. I rubbed the bridge of my nose, making her raise an eyebrow. 

"Luz, we aren't climbing the tree." I said making her gasp. She then placed a hand on my shoulder, her gaze turning tender. 

"Why not? Wait... are you afraid of heights?" She asked me, confusing me for a moment. I looked at her, blinking a couple of times before I shook my head. 

"No, I'm not afraid of heights..." I muttered. 

"So then why don't you want to climb the tree?" She asked, giving my shoulder a light squeeze. I gave her a deadpan look. 

"Because, knowing our luck, one of us will fall. And by one of us, I mean probably you." Luz looked towards the tree, then back at me. "So do we really want to try to climb it?" 

Luz stayed quiet for a minute, then sighed. "Okay... so you may have a point..." I nodded my head, Luz bringing a hand up to rub her chin. "So how else can we get up there?" 

"I can just float us up." I pointed out, raising one of my hands up to start drawing a spell. 

"Emira said not to use a lot of your magic though." Luz said, a bit of concern in her voice. I rolled my eyes, quickly drawing out the spell before she could protest. 

"One little floating spell won't kill me. Now, how high up do you want us to go?" Our feet were already lifting off the ground as Luz gave me a hesitant smile. 

"I'll let you know when we're high enough." She told me, making me nod my head. We went up the tree a little ways, making it just a bit before the top of the tree before Luz told me to stop. 

We both carefully landed on a fairly thick branch, both of us making sure the other was steady. Luz quickly pull the notebook and pencil out of her pocket and sat down on the branch, her legs hanging off the branch as she quickly scribbled out spells. 

I slowly took a seat next to her, lightly kicking my legs as I held onto the tree branch. "Also, I'm gonna apologize now, cause apparently my light spells have been really bright? At least, that's what King said this morning..." She mumbled, tapping a few pieces of paper she already had scribbled out. 

The papers crinkled up, quickly turning into different sized balls of light. Luz carefully guided each of the circles around us, which caused a nice warm glow to form around us. Some of the spells were brighter than others, but they weren't bright enough to hurt my eyes. 

The sky slowly started turning a light shade of orange, Luz's eyes flicking up to the sun for a moment before she turned her gaze back down to her notebook, continuing to draw out spells. 

"These don't hurt your eyes right? I'll make some of them disappear if they do." Luz said, but I shook my head. 

"No, they're fine. In fact, this makes it really pretty..." I said with a smile, making Luz freeze for a moment. She quickly shook her head, tapping one last spell and gently holding it in her hand. 

We fell quiet for a moment, watching as the sun slowly sunk in the sky, slowly turning the sky into a deeper shade of orange. It was really beautiful watching the sun from where we were at, showing off the beauty of the island. 

"This is why I wanted to bring you here." Luz said, taking my attention off the of the sunset for a moment. "Since y'know, this was originally how I was going to confess, the two of us watching the sunset like this..." She said, a pale blush spreading across her cheeks. "I mean, now I don't need to confess, but I figured I could still bring you here to see the view." 

I nodded my head, staring at Luz for a moment before turning my gaze back to the sunset. I couldn't help but let out a content sigh, leaning my cheek on the palm of my hand. My ears slowly went down, a red blush spreading across my face. 

"This is nice..." I said, my voice soft, as if I were to raise my voice louder than a whisper it would ruin the moment. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Luz was still staring at me, the blush on her face deepening. 

She had this look on her face, almost like she was hesitating. I could see her open her mouth for a moment, then closed it, looking back at the sunset for a couple of seconds before looking back at me. 

The sky was a deep orange now, meaning it was going to be night soon. A soft breeze blew in, enough to feel, but not enough to shift Luz's light spells too much. 

It was peaceful, as if nothing could shatter the moment no matter how hard it tried. 

"Can I kiss you?" 

Luz's soft voice and question just came out of the blue, making my eyes widen. My ears practically lit of fire, without a doubt turning some bright shade of red. I turned to look at her, noticing the glazed over look in her eyes, almost as if her mind was elsewhere.

"What?" Was all I managed to stammer out, snapping Luz out of her little trance. Her eyes met mine, widening a little as she realized what she said. She seemed to struggle for a moment, then spoke again. 

"Can I kiss you?" Her voice was higher this time, clearly more nervous than the first time. "Sorry that was just a random thing to ask but it just kinda slipped out cause I was just staring at you and you're really pretty in the light and-" 

"Kiss me how?" I squeaked out, cutting Luz off. She froze up, bringing a hand up as she went to say something but the words struggled to come out. There were so many things that I wanted to say, but none of it would come out, like it was all trapped in my throat as my face burned red.

My ears slowly started to flap, my chest getting tighter as my mind spun with ideas. "I... just uh... I want..." She stammered out, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "You, me, actually kiss... not that the others kisses weren't actual kisses! But I mean like-" She started to ramble, tapping her fingertips together in nervousness. 

It took me a second to get what she meant, then it clicked, and once it did, the heat spread to my cheeks and left me a dark red mess. 

"You mean like... kiss me on the lips?" I said, Luz pausing in her rambling for a moment. She blinked, then nodded her head, going to say something that only ended up as a squeak. 

There was a brief pause, both of us sitting in silence as we stared at one another. "Of course I get if you don't want to!" Luz quickly said, recovering from her squeaking. "I figured I should ask you before I tried to lean in or anything cause you could pull away and then fall out and get hurt! And you don't have to do the kiss if you don't want to!" She spoke so fast I almost couldn't pick up on what she said. 

"Luz hold on, take a breath here." I said, placing a hand over my chest to feel my heart pounding against my ribs. It almost felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

"Sorry, sorry I'm just nervous here!" A flitter of nervous chuckles bubbled up from the drummer as she turned away, looking towards the ground for a moment. "I mean, I just asked a cutie like you to kiss me and now I'm practically babbling like an idiot!" 

"Honestly I'm surprised I'm not doing the same thing!" I said with a chuckle, my ears lightly moving up and down again. We both looked at each other for a moment, then we just busted up laughing. 

My face felt hot, the heat radiating off my cheeks onto the palms of my hand as I tried to hide my face with them. Luz ran a hand through her hair, the other gripping onto the branch with a tight enough grip to turn her knuckles white. 

"Y'know..." Luz started after a minute, a few more chuckles slipping out. "I could listen to your laugh forever." My eyes widened slightly, then I shook my head with a few chuckles, lightly shoving the drummer. 

"Stop being such a flirt you dork!" I said, feeling my ears twitch. Luz gave me a toothy smile, placing a finger gun under her chin. 

"I may be a dork, but you love me for it!" She said with a wink, making me barely roll my eyes. I reached over and lightly ruffled her hair, making her chuckle again. 

"You're right, I do." Her smile grew wider, her eyes glittering in the mix of spell and sunlight. I couldn't help but stare for a moment, then something clicked in my head. "I never answered your question, did I?" 

Luz tensed up for a moment, her smile dropping for a moment before she shook her head. "You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. Like I said, it was a random question..." She said, rubbing the back of her neck as she stared out at the sunset. 

I placed my hand on top of her's, earning a squeak from the drummer. "Promise me you won't fall out of the tree when I tell you my answer?" Luz's grip shifted on the tree, her lips pursed in a tight smile as she gave me a few vigorous nods.

"Yep, totally won't!" She said, her voice a little higher than before as her grip on the branch became a little tighter. 

Moving my hand from her hand to her shoulder, just in case, I gave her a soft smile despite how nervous I was. 

"You can kiss me." 

The drummer blinked a few times, processing what I said before the blush on her face deepened. "Really?" I nodded my head, making her look away from me for a moment. "Oh wow you actually agreed..." 

She looked up at me again, her eyes glittering with determination despite the nervous smile on her face. I could hear my heart in my ears and the longer I stared at Luz, the faster it got. 

I let out a chuckle, reaching up with one hand to rub the back of my neck. "I have no idea if you can hear my heart right now..." I said, making her laugh. 

"I can only guess it's pounding as loud as mine?" I nodded my head, making her chuckle again. She reached over and gently grabbed my arms, making me squeak in response. "Okay... are you sure you still want to kiss me? You can say no now, it's alright." 

"Yes I'm sure." I said, lightly rolling my eyes. "You act like I haven't imagined this happening millions of times before!" My voice slowly got higher as I tapped my hands against my thighs, my ears pausing for a minute when I realized what I said. "And now you're probably a little weirded out by the fact I've imagined kissing you..." 

She quickly shook her head, giving my arms a squeeze before letting out a laugh. "It's not like I haven't done the same thing!" She said, making my ears start to flap again. "But uh... I've never kissed someone before, so it's probably not gonna be the best..." She mumbled with a laugh, making me roll my eyes. 

"What makes you think I've kissed anyone either?" Luz shrugged. 

"I don't know! It's been two years since I've been back, I don't know if you found some other cute witch to kiss while I was gone!" She told me, making me laugh. My hand slowly reached up until I cupped her cheek, making her freeze for a moment. 

"You're the only cute witch that I'm willing to kiss." I said, mentally kicking myself at how nervous I sounded. We both froze for a moment, just staring at one another. 

Then, Luz slowly started to lean in. 

Everything in my head just blanked, my ears quickly flapping and my body moving on its own as I copied the drummer's actions. My hands felt numb and somehow they weren't shaking out of nervousness. I could feel Luz give my arms a little squeeze, probably to reassure herself. 

But, instead of a tender kiss, we both pulled back from one another in surprise as we smacked our head together. 

Bringing a hand up to my forehead, I let out a low hiss of pain as I carefully rubbed the spot that was hit. Opening one eye, I saw that Luz was doing the same thing. "Sorry! Sorry, I wasn't thinking and I leaned in too quickly!" I was quick to apologize, my ears still flapping up and down despite the injury. 

Luz held her hand over the spot, some of her hair resting on top of her hand. Opening one of her eyes, I could see it was glossy because of the pain. "I should be the one that's sorry..." She started, letting out a bit of a laugh. "I was the one who closed my eyes and just decided to wing it!" 

I started to laugh again, still rubbing the spot on my forehead. Luz Started to laugh as well, a few snorts slipping out here and there. "I can't believe how much of a dork we both are!" I said in between chuckles, making Luz give me a soft shove. 

"I can!" She said, her laughter slowly dying down. She turned to face me again, scooting a little closer. I looked over at her, freezing up when she brought both of her hands up to cup my cheeks. "Alright alright, let's see if we can do this without butting heads again." 

"Mhm." I hummed, feeling her fingertips lightly scratch at the spot behind me ears, causing a purr to rise up in my throat that I pushed down. 

"Okay... let me just..." Luz's voice slowly trailed off as she leaned in. I stayed frozen in place, not wanting to recreate what had happened earlier. When our lips were just barely apart, she hesitated for a second, then her lips met mine. 

A jolt went up my spine at the feeling, her lips weren't extremely soft, maybe just a little chapped. I could hear a loud buzzing in my ears, which was either my brain short circuiting or it was my heart beating at a million miles a minute. 

My hands were shaking, but I somehow brought them up and around Luz's shoulders, pulling her just a little bit closer. A purr rose up in my throat, but at this point I didn't care. 

At this point, it was all so perfect. And nothing could mess it up. 

After a few more seconds, Luz finally pulled away, her face a deep shade of red. I took a few shaky deep breaths, blinking a few times before I brought a hand up by my lips. "Oh my gods..." I managed to say, my voice soft. 

I looked up at Luz, who looked like her brain had completely left. She kept her hands on my face, and I could feel them slightly shaking. Quickly, I brought both of my hands up, gently grabbing onto her wrists. "Wowza..." She finally mumbled, blinking a few times. "Your lips really are soft..." 

"Can you do that again?" I quickly asked her, making her eyes widen a bit. "Please?" I asked, making the drummer slowly nod her head. 

She pulled me in for another kiss, this one not lasting as long as the first, but it still made that jolt run up my spine. This time, I was the one to pull away, gently taking Luz's hands off my face. 

"Okay... okay maybe we shouldn't keep doing this up here, cause if you kiss me again, I might just fall out of the tree." My voice was shaky, but the smile on my face didn't waver. Luz nodded her head a few times, then let out a laugh. 

"I just kissed you... I just kissed you twice!" She said, running a hand through her hair. "We've gotta do that more often!" Her voice rose in excitement, making me nod my head. 

I couldn't even think straight, not like I ever did, but now I couldn't think at all. "It's like everything's blank up there..." I tapped a finger against my temple, Luz nodding her head. "It's a nice feeling." 

"It is..." Luz's voice was soft now, her gaze turned out towards the sunset. "Hey Ammy?" I turned to look at her, humming in response. "Sunset's almost over, wanna head back to the owl house when night rolls around? Or we could go crash at your place, or I can just go to the owl house alone, I don't care what we do." 

A chuckle rose up in my throat as I slowly leaned over, resting my head on the drummer's shoulder. "Going back to the owl house with you sounds nice." I said softly, my voice still shaking slightly as my brain tried to process what had happened. 

Luz didn't say anything for a moment, and all I could hear for a bit was her breathing and her heartbeat. Then, she slowly wrapped her arms around my shoulder, carefully pulling me a bit closer to her. "Yeah... it does sound nice."


	31. Witch magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bop bop look what we have here, we have a song ->
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm0_qswgIUo

Luz POV:

The two of us stayed a little after the sun set, both of us becoming entranced by the stars that slowly appeared in the sky. Everything was calm, the air around us almost frozen in time. I gave Amity's shoulder a squeeze, watching as she brought her hands up to rub her eyes. 

I couldn't help but chuckle. "C'mon Ammy, it's too early to be tired. The sun's just set! Besides, you've been in show's that have run later." She mumbled something, carefully nuzzling closer to me. 

"But it's all so relaxing..." She told me, her voice now loud enough for me to hear. I let out a little chuckle, swiping at some of the light spells to put them out. Amity picked her head up off my shoulder, watching me put out the spells for a moment. 

"If that's the case, we should get going then. Don't want you to fall asleep then fall out of the tree." Carefully standing up, I wiped away the last few spells that remained, our only light now coming from the moon. 

"Good idea." Amity said, staring out at the moon for a moment. I held out a hand to help her up, which she gladly took. Pulling her up on her feet, I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, making her smile. Then, she drew out a spell that would slowly float us down to the ground. 

We barely stepped off the branch and started floating down, and in front of me I watched as a few petals floated down with us. "Y'know... we're kinda like the petals right now." I said, clasping my hands behind my back. 

"Yeah." Amity said, her eyes following the petals as well. My brain suddenly lit up with an idea, a small smirk rising to my lips. 

"And you know what petals do while they float to the ground?" I asked the witch, watching as she turned her head to face me. Her eyebrows bunched together in confusion for a moment as she tilted her head. 

"They what?" She asked back, a slight bit of hesitance in her voice. I put on a big smile, grabbing her by both the hands, taking her by a bit of surprise. 

"They dance!" I exclaimed, making the witch squeak. She quickly shook her head, her ears pinned down. "C'mon Amity!"

"Luz, I'm gonna lose focus and we'll fall!" She hissed, sticking to a stiff position so that I wouldn't be able to move her. "Besides, even if I could stay focused, we wouldn't have enough time for a dance."

"We'd have enough time for a waltz!" I argued, making Amity smile and softly shake her head. Not long after, I could feel my feet gently touch the floor. 

Amity was quick to take my hand in her's, almost taking me by surprise. "Whatever you say you dork. Now c'mon, let's get going to the owl house, being out this close to the woods won't end well if we're unlucky." 

"True." I mumbled, giving her hand a squeeze before we started heading towards the direction of the owl house. "Lucky for us though, the owl house isn't too far from here!" Amity nodded her head, giving my hand a squeeze back. 

We hadn't walked too far from the tree when both of us froze, a rustling sound from the bushes making us stop in our tracks. I turned towards Amity, who's ears were pinned down as she glanced back towards the bushes. "Luz, we gotta go. Now." 

I held up a hand, motioning for her to be quiet. Slowly reaching for my notebook in my back pocket, pulling it out and bringing it in front of me. I was quick to scribble out a fire glyph, tearing the paper out of the notebook before passing the rest of the papers to Amity. 

Moving a little closer to the bush, Amity instantly grabbed my wrist, pulling me back. "Luz back up!" She hissed at me, her voice no louder than a whisper. I carefully pulled my hand away, tapping the spell to activate it. 

"I'm not gonna go into it, I'm just gonna toss this then back up." I told her, watching as she shook her head. "If anything jumps out, we'll both run." 

"We both have magic." Amity said, making me nod my head. 

"And you shouldn't be using much of your magic." I said back, turning back towards the bush. Then, with the quick flick of my hand, I tossed the glyph into the bush. 

A yelp came from the plant, sounding a lot less like some kind of creature and more like a person, the bush falling still. My eyebrows bunched together at the sound, but as I got closer to investigate, Amity grabbed my shoulder, roughly pulling me back. 

"I swear you act on impulse..." She hissed, starting to pull me away. "Let's hope you killed whatever was in there, because if you didn't, it's probably pissed." 

"That didn't sound like a creature though?" I said, making the witch slightly roll her eyes. 

"Skinwalkers exist you know? It could've easily picked up one of our voices to mimic." She told me. I raised a hand to argue, but quickly lowered it when I realized she was probably right. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to make it to the owl house in one piece." 

Turning, I continued to stare at the bush for a moment, noticing how it still wasn't moving. There wasn't any smoke coming from it, which helped away the bit of worry that it might accidentally catch on fire. I knew there was still a small chance that it could, but it seemed pretty unlikely. 

"Shouldn't we check it and make sure the bush won't light on fire? It's really close to the tree, and if it sparked up a fire..." I started, making Amity sigh a bit. She drew a small spell circle, then I could hear the splash of water behind us. 

"It's not gonna light on fire now." She said simply, then continued to drag me along. "Now, since that's out of the way..." Amity let go of my wrist, then grabbed me by the hand, intertwining our fingers. "What do you wanna talk about now?" 

I thought about my answer for a moment, wracking my brain for something interesting to talk about. Then, I gasped as I gave her hand a squeeze. "Have you read the seventh Azura book yet?" 

The witch blinked a few times, then did a half and half symbol with her hand. "I'm about halfway right now... I think." She let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck. 

"Where'd you leave off? We can talk about the parts you've already read! It'll be like the old book club days!" Amity chuckled, giving me a bit of a shove as we continued to walk. 

"We really should do one of those again, for old times sake. Besides, I've still got access to that hideout in the library." Now it was my turn to chuckle, making the youngest Blight perk up. 

"I doubt we'd get much reading done though. One of us would be too busy snuggling up against the other." A bit of a blush rose to Amity's face, her ears slightly wiggling up and down. I chuckled again, giving the Blight a bit of a shrug. "If I'm being one hundred percent honest, it'd probably be me trying to snuggle up against you instead of reading." 

"You must doubt me then Noceda." She said with a nervous smile, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Never said I doubted you Blight, I'm just saying I'm clingy." I told her with a bit of a laugh. "But we're getting off track here! Where'd you leave off in the book?" Amity's ears twitched, her nose scrunching up in concentration. 

She snapped her fingers together a few times. "I'm pretty sure I left off at the part where Hecate was fighting against that snake guy." I paused, wracking over the scenes in my head. 

"Wait... was she fighting him with magic?" I asked, trying not to say anything that would spoil the book. Amity quickly shook her head. 

"No, I'm at the second fight. The one where her magic was disabled. I had to stop reading before the battle really started though, since Emira needed something." I couldn't help but let out a loud gasp, instantly clasping my free hand over my mouth to stop the tumble of words that wanted to flow out. 

Amity looked over at me, raising an eyebrow at my reaction. I hesitated for a moment, not moving my hand away from my mouth. After a minute or so, I finally turned to the witch. "You've gotta read the rest of that battle, pronto." 

The witch blinked a few times, then sighed. "Something important happens, doesn't it?" I slowly nodded my head. 

"Super important." I muttered before quickly shaking my head. "But before I accidentally spoil anything, I wanna hear what theories you have!" Amity's eyes lit up, her ears slightly moving up. 

She was quick to dive into some of her theories, the two of us quickly starting to gush about what we thought. Even though the walk to the owl house wasn't that long of a walk, it felt like a lot longer because of how fun the conversation was. 

"And then the fact that Azura just rushed in there to save Hecate with no hesitation?" Amity shook her head a few times, giving my hand a squeeze. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't holding my breath." 

"Me too!" I exclaimed, glancing up ahead to see we weren't very far from the owl house now. Movement came from the door, one that Amity noticed before letting out a loud sigh. That caught the tube owl's attention, making him stretch over to us. 

"Hey you two!" Hooty greeted, making Amity slump down a bit. 

"Hiya Hooty!" I greeted back, still walking towards the house. Amity gave the owl a look, quickly darting her eyes away when Hooty turned to her. "Eda and King are still home, right?" The door owl quickly nodded his head. 

"Yep! They've been waiting for you to get back hoot hoot!" I nodded, watching out of the corner of my eye as Amity's ears twitched to the sound of Hooty's voice. She gave my hand a bit of a squeeze, then started to drag me along a little faster, clearly not wanting to talk with the owl for very long. 

Hooty opened the door for us when we got close enough, startling Eda. My mentor was quick to relax when she realized it was only the two of us. "Took you two long enough to get back!" She said, stretching her arms over her head. 

"We weren't gone for that long." I said, perking up when I heard the familiar patter of paws on the ground. Turning towards the hallway, I spotted King, who's eyes lit up at the sight of us. "Hey there King!"

The demon slowly walked over to us, the stuffed bunny he held in his paw dragging against the ground. He glanced up for a moment, then gagged. "Ugh, you two are being all lovey again." He grumbled, making me roll my eyes. 

Taking my hand away from Amity's, I bent down and picked up the demon, pulling him into a tight hug despite his protests. "Sounds like you missed your afternoon nap." I told him, making his eyes slant down in anger. 

"Yeah, I did. All thanks to that one over there!" He jabbed a thumb over in Eda's direction, only making her roll her eyes. "After all, it was her bright idea to see if the trash slugs left anything behind."

"You're the only one that could fit in the little cavern ya whiner." Eda said with a wave of her hand. "It's not like you got eaten or anything, and besides, I got you snacks after."

"Those weren't good enough!" King said, making Eda's eyebrows go together. 

"Well sorry I wasn't going to buy you the entire stand all because you climbed into one little cavern. You're lucky I got you anything at all, I could've just told you we have snacks at home." King scoffed, sticking out his tongue before stomping off towards the hallway again. 

He paused when he reached the doorway, turning back to me. "I'm just gonna go to bed now. Are you coming or what Luz?" His eyes slowly went over to Amity, squinting slightly. "And I guess you since you're probably staying here?" 

"Now hold on." Eda's voice caught my attention, taking it off of King. "I promised I'd teach you how to do another spell didn't I?" My eyes widened as I excitedly rubbed my hands together, quickly moving over and taking a seat by Eda's side. 

King let out a little growl, mumbling things under his breath as he stomped back over. He moved over by Amity's side, dropping the rabbit and lightly tapping her leg, catching her attention. Then, he motioned for her to sit on the ground. 

Amity looked up at the two of us for a moment, then back down at King before she did what he asked. Once she sat down on the floor, King hopped up in her lap, spinning around in a few circles before laying down. 

I stared at the two for a moment, noticing how Amity remained tense for a moment before awkwardly placing her hand on King's back. The demon made a little waving motion with his hand and Amity slowly started to run her hand up and down his back. 

Taking my gaze off of them, I turned towards Eda, a giant smile on my face. "So, what kind of spell did you decide on? An abomination one? Maybe a healing one?" I pushed, making her roll her eyes. 

"Already told you kid, I'll teach you a stronger healing spell later, you don't need to know it right now." Amity let out a little cough, catching Eda's eye for a moment. However, the silver haired witch didn't ask any questions, rather, she just shook her head. "Instead, I've decided to show you a duplication spell." 

She picked up a pencil that was lying on the table, holding it out for a moment before drawing a small spell circle. Instantly, a copy of the pencil appeared from a small cloud of smoke, falling onto Eda's lap. 

"And as long as you do it right, you should have a full functioning copy in your hands." Eda picked up the pencil in her lap and passed it over to me, then set the other one on the table. "Honestly there isn't much to it." 

"Seems simple enough..." I muttered, my eyes widening slightly as a few questions popped in my head. "A few questions though." Eda leaned back on the couch, throwing one arm over the back while the other ran through her hair. 

"Which would be?" Her golden eyes looked over towards me as she raised an eyebrow. But, before I could ask a question, I paused when I heard Amity chuckle. 

Turning my attention to the other witch in the room, I could see King now lying on his back in her lap, a content look in his eyes as she lightly scratched his stomach. 

"How does being a servant to the King of Demons sound to you?" I could hear him ask, making Amity chuckle again. He lifted his head up, blocking my view of his eyes. "I'm being serious! You give some of the best back scratches." 

I let out a small gasp, catching the demon's attention. "I thought you said my back scratches were the best!" I said, fake offense dripping in my voice. King scoffed, waving one of his paws at my statement. 

"You're a close second." He told me, then suddenly jolted up, giving Amity's arm a light smack. "Now keep going! I might be able to fall asleep if you go on long enough." 

"You sure are demanding..." I could hear Amity mumble, only making King laugh. 

"I'm the King of Demons! Of course I'm demanding!" He said, closing his eyes. I continued to stare at the two for a moment, then my attention was brought back to Eda when she started snapping her fingers. 

"Focus Luz. I don't want to be here all night." She said in a semi serious tone, making me shake my head a few times. "What are those questions you had?" I watched as she twisted off her left hand, flexing the hand a little once it was disconnected from her wrist. 

"Okay, first question!" I glanced back at the pencil Eda handed me. "Can you make copies of copies?" 

"As long as it's a functional copy, yeah you can." Eda said simply, sticking her hand back in its socket and twisting it on before popping the other off. 

I paused for a moment, nodding my head and setting the pencil down next to its original on the table. "Next question then!" My eyes darted to Amity for a moment, seeing the content smile on her face. 

"Is this what being a teacher at Hexside feels like?" Eda asked me out of the blue, making Amity perk her head up for a moment. Then, Eda shivered at the thought, her ears twitching. 

"Well, technically you are my teacher." I pointed out, making her roll her eyes. She gave me a shove. 

"No duh kiddo." A snort escaped her, now instead of shoving me, she pulled me closer so that she could ruffle my hair. "But normally, it doesn't feel this boring." 

"Normally, you're teaching me while we're on an adventure or you teach me just because." A smile rose to my lips as I gave her a bit of a nudge. "But, you decided to promise to teach me, and now you're going through with it. Acting like a pretty responsible teacher if you ask me." 

Eda gagged, turning away from me and giving me another shove. "Never call me responsible again. You're pushing it when you call me your teacher but responsible? That's just, not a word you should use to describe me and you know it." 

"But it's the truth! You can be responsible!" I argued back, watching as she turned and gave me a glare. 

"Do you want me to show you how to do this spell or not?" Her voice was deadpan, making me instantly shut up. "Geez I'm gonna need some apple blood after this..." I heard her mumble, then she shook her head. "What was that other question of your's?" 

"Can you duplicate other people?" I asked, watching as Eda's ears went down slightly. Then, she chuckled, shaking her head. 

"Technically... yes you can." Eda said with a shrug, then she ran a hand through her hair again. "But it takes a bunch of magic, not to mention it's pretty illegal to do." 

"Not like you'd care about that!" King suddenly piped up, making Eda snort. 

"Never said I did, I just figured it'd be important to bring up." Eda then wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "After all, if I didn't, I know Luz here would eventually try it." 

"I mean, she still could try it." King pointed out, Amity softly nodding her head. The tiny demon rolled over so that he was now lying on his stomach, Amity resting a hand on top of his skull. "It's not like there would be any real consequences as long as no one found out." 

"You say that now, then get guilty once you go through with it." Amity told the demon, giving his skull a light tap. 

"Like you'd know that! Tell me, have you ever cloned someone and then got rid of the body?" King's voice was laced with sarcasm, making the youngest Blight roll her eyes. 

"She has a point." Eda said, leaning back on the couch again. "After all, the only way to get rid of the evidence would be to either kill yourself, or well, the clone of yourself, or have someone do it for you. Not really pleasant for anyone either way." 

Nodding my head, I turned my gaze back to my mentor. "So, what do you want me to duplicate?" Eda tapped a finger against her chin, then shrugged her shoulders. "Wait, can spells be duplicated?" 

"Most can, depends on what it is." Eda said, making me smile. Quickly pulling my notebook out of my pocket, I took a pencil off the table and scribbled out a light glyph. 

Tapping on the glyph, the paper crumpled up into a small, bright ball of light. "Would this work?" I asked, watching as Eda's eyes glittered, clearly distracted by the spell. She quickly shook her head, clearing her throat. 

"That'll do." She told me. I placed my notebook and the pencil back down on the table, then floated the spell slightly in front of me. "Now, don't you need your rectangle thingy to see the spell? This one you can't exactly see in nature." 

"Oh right!" I looked around for my phone, then sighed when I realized it was still upstairs. "Hold on a second..." I quickly got up off of the couch, then darted off towards the hallway, quickly heading upstairs into my room. 

I pushed open the door to my room, quickly moving over by my mattress and picking up my phone. Clicking it on, I found that it still had a decent amount of battery. 

Going back downstairs, I plopped down on the the couch next to Eda, my phone ready. "Okay, now I'm ready!" Eda smirked, then held her hand out. 

"Alright, record this one, then I'll show you again if you want." She reached for my light spell, gently hovering it over the palm of her hand. Then, she slowly drew out the spell, allowing me to record her casting it and duplicating my ball of light. 

"Okay great, one's recorded." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Amity stretch her arms over her head, a few of her joints popping in the process. Then she leaned back on the palms of her hands as she stared at the two of us, King curled up in her lap. 

"Great." Eda moved the second ball of light aside, then held the other one in front of me. "Now, want me to show you again? How's that one phrase go? Because third times the charm?" 

"Technically you're supposed to say that after you try something two other times, but you know what that works too." I said with a smile, making Eda roll her eyes. "Anyways, you mind doing in one more time?" 

"Yeesh kid, you're acting like I'm made of magic." Eda joked, giving me a bit of a nudge. "Alright, last time for a minute." She said, holding her hand out. My mentor turned away from me slightly, slowly tracing the spell out with her finger. 

Even though I couldn't do magic the same way she did, I focused on her hand and started to mimic her actions, tracing out a pretend circle in the air. I didn't even focus on what my own hand was doing, practically blocking it out of my vision. 

By the time she finished completing the circle, my hand had already through a few circular motions, completing three or so fake spells. "And that's how it's done, now you..." She trailed off as she turned to me, her eyes widening in surprise. 

To my right I could hear the sound of Amity scrambling to get up, King letting out a yelp as he was forced from Amity's lap. "How is that... Luz how the fuck is that possible?" 

"How is what possible?" I asked, stopping my hand in midair as I looked over towards the Blight. She pointed towards me, her eyes wide. I blinked a few times, shooting her a confused look. She motioned towards my hand, slowly bringing my attention back to it. 

There, floating in the air, connected to my fingertip was a dark green spell circle, just waiting to be completed. 

I almost pulled away in surprise, but instead, I stayed frozen in place. "This is new..." Was all I managed to say, the other's staying silent. "I..." I paused for a moment, then looked between the others. "I'm not the only one seeing this right?" 

"I'm the one that pointed it out, what makes you think you're the only one seeing this?!" Amity said, her voice slightly higher pitched. 

"Hey well, today's gone like a dream already, me being able to do magic like you would just add onto that! Besides, it shouldn't even be possible for me to do magic like this!" I paused for a moment, thinking it over. 

King finally piped up, his voice high pitched. "How are you even able to do that?" I blinked, slowly turning my gaze back down to the spell circle. 

"The witch blood..." I muttered softly, out of the corner of my eye I could see Eda perk up a bit. My confusion quickly turned to excitement. "That's why! It's because of the witch blood!" I then turned to Amity, giving her a big smile. "I told you that'd give me witch powers!" 

Eda quickly placed a hand on my shoulder, bringing my attention back to her. "That's my girl!" The smile on her face was bright, a chuckle slipping out. "Doing two different kinds of magic! Now, before you accidentally break the spell circle out of excitement, complete it." She told me, making me look back down at the dark green circle. 

I went to complete it, then hesitated. "What if it explodes?" Eda snorted, shaking her head a few times. 

"It's not gonna explode." She told me, pausing for a moment before she leaned back on the couch, moving out of the way of the circle. "At least it shouldn't explode..." 

Amity took a few steps closer, King following close behind her. I could see the confusion painted clear on her face, but she didn't say a word. We were all waiting, all of us wondering what was gonna happen. 

Then, I slowly connected the spell together. 

The second the spell was connected, a bright flash filled my vision, making all of us yelp. I brought my hands up to my eyes, rubbing them to try to clear the spots out of my vision, leaning back until my back hit the arm of the chair. 

Blinking a few times, I managed to clear my vision enough to see what was going on around me. Both of my light spells were gone now and Eda was rubbing one of her eyes, the other was open, her pupil dilated. 

King was whining, mumbling things under his breath about how this spell was brighter than the one from this morning. I could hear Amity also say something, watching as she blinked a few times, her ears pinned down. 

I continued to try and clear my vision, my mind slowly grasping what just happened. "I just did magic... magic that didn't require me drawing out a glyph..." I shot up straight, looking between the three of them. "One of you please pinch me this has to be a dream." 

"I'm not gonna do that..." Amity mumbled, rubbing her eyes a couple of times. King suddenly jumped up on the couch, roughly pinching my arm, making me wince in pain. 

"But I will!" He exclaimed, pulling away from me. "So are you still dreaming?" I slowly shook my head, looking down at my hands. King hummed for a moment, rubbing his hand underneath his chin. "Maybe I didn't do it hard enough." 

"No you did!" I quickly said, lightly pushing the demon away. "You did! I just don't believe it!" Looking back down at my hands again, I eyed them, then my notebook. "Oh my god I can do two different forms of magic." 

I spun around to face Amity, moving so fast I made the witch flinch. "Does this make you some kind of hybrid now?" I could hear King ask me, lightly poking my arm. Amity seemed off in her own head, trying to figure out how this was even possible. 

Turning my gaze over to the other witch in the room, I found her still slumped against the couch, one hand against her head while the other rested on the arm of the couch. She blinked once, then slowly turned her gaze over to me. 

"Eda I can do two different forms of magic!" I couldn't sit still, struggling to resist the urge to jump out of my seat because King was on my lap. Eda didn't say anything for a moment, then she rubbed her eyes again. 

"Either you managed to pull off a really impressive illusion trick, or you somehow just managed to make a spell circle..." She finally said, eyeing me up and down before chuckling. Then, she pulled me into a headlock, running her knuckles over the top of my head. "Look at you! Just full of surprises!" 

"How is this even possible?" Amity asked out loud, running a hand through her hair and messing it up. "You need a bile sack to do magic like that, how are you able to do that with only a bit of witch blood?" 

I could feel Eda shrug, letting me out of the headlock. "Well don't look to me for an answer. I wasn't in the healing coven, nor would I have payed much attention." She then pointed towards Amity, who froze up slightly. "And I'm assuming you don't have an answer either cause you were in illusions."

"Abominations." Amity corrected as she folded her arms over her chest, mumbling about how her siblings were the one's in the illusions coven. "And if I did have an answer, I would've given it already." 

They both turned to me, making me shrug. "Hey they never taught anything about humans, I'm just as lost as you guys." I thought about it for a moment, then something clicked. "Unless..." 

"Unless what?" The silver haired witch asked, making me perk up. 

"Unless the witch blood somehow gave me one of those bile sack things!" I could see Amity tilt her head in confusion, her eyebrows tightly furrowed together. "No seriously! Think about it!" 

"That doesn't make any sense though." Amity said, making me turn to face her. 

"Technically!" I started, bouncing one of my legs rapidly up and down. "Technically it does! At least, it kinda does..." I could feel King get off my lap, moving between Eda and I. "After all, it's magic blood! It makes sense for something to happen! Especially since I'm human and not a witch!" 

"So instead of killing you, you luckily manage to survive and get a bile sack?" Eda let out a snort, softly shaking her head. "I'm not saying that's not what happened, but still, seems like a rare chance." 

"That's the only way I can think it'd work!" I said back, placing a hand against my chest. "That'd explain the chest pain from a few weeks ago too... I'm connecting the dots..." 

"You didn't connect anything, but it does explain that..." Amity mumbled, her ears twitching. "And maybe the spell Em used on you fully activated it or something? Or maybe it stabilized it..." She paused for a moment, then shook her head. "But if you did somehow manage to grow a bile sack, it should've killed you! Those things aren't small and I have no idea how packed the human chest cavity is."

Eda suddenly clicked her tongue, catching both of our attention. "Unless it isn't a full bile sack." I tilted my head slightly in confusion, making Eda roll her eyes. "C'mon, Blight here is right, no doubt if you just grew a full sized bile sack, you'd be dead." 

"I mean, I'm pretty sure I close to death..." I muttered, making Eda roll her eyes. 

"Key word there is 'close'." She told me, squinting slightly. "A full bile sack probably would've put enough pressure against your lung to pop it like a balloon." Eda paused for a moment, then looked back over at me. "Human lungs are in the chest right?" 

"Yeah they are." I could hear Amity still mumbling behind me, trying to wrap her head around what had happened.

"Like I was saying, it would've killed you." Eda gave me a quick nudge. "But!" I nearly fell off the couch, holding my arms out to keep my balance. Behind me, I could feel Amity place a hand on my shoulder to keep me in place. "You only nearly died! Which means, it's probably not a full bile sack."

There was a moment of silence, King looking between the two of us. Then, his eyes slanted downward. "That last part made no sense." He said as he turned to Eda, making me nod. 

"Well do I look like I know what I'm talking about? I'm no healer." Eda said, folding her arms over her chest. King stood up, hopping down to the ground before stretching out. 

"Yeah well, the way you were talking made it sound like you did." He grumbled, turning around to face us. 

"So what you're saying is..." Amity started, catching our attention. "Somehow, the witch blood managed to alter Luz's DNA enough to grow a bile sack, but since it's from the blood, it's probably not full size. Is that what you're getting at?" 

There was a brief pause, then Eda motioned to Amity, looking down at King. "See? She get's it!" King rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath before he sighed. 

"Only because she knows how to read between the lines." The tiny demon then yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Weh... I'm gonna go to bed." He gave us all a halfhearted wave, walking over by the bunny he dropped earlier and picking it up to take with him. 

"Don't fall asleep in the middle of the mattress!" I called after him, watching him walk towards the hallway for a second before eagerly turning back around. "So, now I can do two different kinds of magic!" I said, trying to solidify it in my head before I froze for a second, then turned to Amity, shooting her a wink. "I mean, technically three different kinds." 

A soft squeak could be heard from the teal haired witch, her face quickly becoming dusted with a light pink. Eda looked between the two of us, snorting a few times before ruffling my hair. 

"Now, I wanna see what I can do!" I said, the eagerness in my voice clear. However, Eda placed a hand on my shoulder, making me look over at her. She chuckled a few times, softly shaking her head. 

"As much as I'd love to see that, it's late." I slumped down, frowning slightly at my mentor.

"Since when did you ever care that it's late?" I asked, making her roll her eyes. 

"Since now." Eda gave my shoulder a squeeze, then gave me a light shove. "Besides, not only do we have no clue what your limits are, but you probably have no idea how to activate it, do you?" 

I paused for a moment, looking down at my hands before sighing. "I don't know." I mumbled, making Eda chuckle again. "But wouldn't we want to test and figure it out?" 

Eda nodded her head, then stood up, popping her fingers. "We are gonna test it. But we'll do that tomorrow, when we can go outside and have less of a risk of being mauled." The silver haired witch popped her neck a few times, letting out a low sigh. "And as much as Hooty is a thorn in my side, I don't wanna risk you accidentally burning him down."

Amity's eyes lit up at the idea of Hooty burning, but she quickly cleared her throat to hide it. "She does have a point." The youngest Blight said, making Eda look over at her before barely rolling her eyes. 

The silver haired witch walked over to Amity, ruffling her hair and messing it up. "I know I do." She said before popping her back. "Now, I'm going to bed. You two don't do anything you aren't supposed to."

"We won't!" I called over my shoulder, turning forward. Bringing a hand up, I slowly started to trace circles in the air again, trying to get another spell to activate. 

There was a bit of silence, then I could hear Amity move a little closer. She bent down, resting her chin on the top of my head. "Still trying to do it even though Eda said not to?" She asked me. 

"Yep!" I said cheerily, tracing out another invisible circle. Sticking out my tongue, I tried to do it again, still getting the same thing. "I don't get how I did it the first time..." 

"I don't either..." Amity said and I could hear the tiredness slowly seeping into her voice. I stopped trying to make another spell circle for a moment, moving away slightly from the witch to look at her. 

"Tired?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She shrugged, one of her ears twitching slightly. 

"It may not be late, but I'm a little tired yeah..." She reached up to pull her hair out of its ponytail, before running a hand through it a couple of times. "But hey, I'll stay down here if you want to keep trying." 

I hesitated for a moment, then scoffed, waving away her statement. "No way! We can go up to bed now, besides, Eda said I could practice tomorrow." 

"Are you sure?" I stood up, taking a hold of Amity's hand and gently pulling her along. 

"Of course I'm sure! Now, let's go see if I need to kick King off of the middle of the mattress or not." Amity chuckled, following after me. 

The two of us went upstairs, quickly pushing open the door to my room. Even in the dim light, I could see King curled up in a ball towards the bottom of my mattress. Letting go of Amity's hand I brought a hand up towards the back of my neck. 

"Hopefully you don't mind sharing, cause this is the only other room." I said nervously, making Amity roll her eyes. She gave me a light push. 

"What makes you think I'd care? Not like we haven't slept in the same bed before." I nodded my head, slowly moving over towards my duffel bag. 

"Still, if you don't want me to sleep next to you, I'll sleep over here by the window." Pulling the flap open, I quickly pulled out two shirts and two pairs of shorts. "Hey Ammy, here, figure you want to change." I tossed a pair of the clothes over to her, making her flinch before catching them. 

"Thanks." She mumbled, stepping back towards the door. "I'll be right back then." I gave her a thumbs up, watching as she pulled the door open and stepped out, closing it behind her. 

Once she left, I pulled my shirt over my head and slid the new one on, doing the same with the pair of shorts. Tossing my old clothes back by my duffel bag, I moved over towards the mattress and sat down, staring at King for a moment. 

His chest slowly rose and fell, silently telling me that he was asleep. A couple of moments passed, then I jumped when I heard a soft knock at my door. "Luz? Can I come in?" Amity's voice came muffled from the other side of the door, turning my gaze up to it. 

"You can come it!" I said, wincing at my own volume. Glancing down at King, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw he was still asleep. My door slowly pushed open, Amity stepping into the room before closing it behind her. 

My shirt was a little large on her, but it was still comfortable. She looked down at the design on the front, then chuckled. "What even is this thing?" Her golden eyes looked up to meet mine, making me smile. 

"Just an old video game from home, we should play it next time you decide to visit Earth." I shot her a toothy smile, making her ears slightly move up and down. She walked over towards me, taking a seat on my left. 

I slowly placed my hand over top of hers, making her look over towards me. Then, before she could say anything, I pulled her into a hug and laid down, making her yelp in surprise. 

"Did you really have to do that?" She asked me, slightly pushing away from me. I laughed, lightly booping her nose. 

"No I didn't have to do it, but I did." Even in the dark light I could see her roll her eyes. She rolled on her side so that she could face me, I did the same thing. "Well, night Ammy." 

"Wait..." She stopped me from closing my eyes, making me raise an eyebrow. "Do you mind if I snuggle against you?" My eyes widened slightly, then I shook my head. 

"What makes you think I'd mind? C'mere." I said, watching as the witch scooted closer to me. She quickly got into a position that made it so that her head was resting under my chin, her arms slowly snaking around my waist. Resting one arm under our pillow, I wrapped the other around her. 

"Just figured I'd ask..." She muttered, her breath hitting my neck and making me shiver. "You're comfortable right?" 

"Yeah I am..." I muttered, feeling a blush rising to my cheeks. I could feel the witch melt into my arms, making a smile rise up to my face. "Hey wait Ammy? Question for you." 

She hummed, not pulling away from me. At our feet, I could hear King shuffle, then fall still again. "What is it?" Her voice was soft. 

"Can I give you another kiss?" Now she pulled away from me, a look of slight surprise on her face. Then, she chuckled, leaning in closer and connecting our lips for a moment before pulling away. 

Amity then moved back into her previous position, leaving me wide eyed for a moment. My face burned, but I didn't say anything to show it. Then, I slowly sunk down on to my pillow, gently resting my chin on the top of Amity's head. 

The two of us sat in silence for a moment, and for a second I thought Amity had already fallen asleep. Softly, I started to hum a song under my breath, lightly running my hand up and down Amity's arm. 

"That's a pretty tune..." I heard her mumble, making me jump in surprise. Her voice was soft, making me assume she was already halfway asleep. "Can you sing it?" 

"I..." I paused for a moment, giving her arm a bit of a squeeze. "I mean... I can if you want." 

"That'd be nice..." She nuzzled a little closer to my neck, nearly making me freeze up. 

"Alright..." I said, pausing for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath, I slowly started to sing.

"I just wanna be in love with you." 

I could feel Amity relax a little more in my arms, a content sigh escaping her. 

"Woke up today and heard your name once again"

"It's getting harder now to see you as a friend." 

Amity gave my waist a little squeeze, making me smile. 

"Your pretty face, the way you talk, the way you smile." 

"Hey tunnel vision, welcome back, it's been awhile." 

I then let out a small chuckled, softly shaking my head. "That's all they lyrics I know." Amity softly nodded her head, giving me another squeeze. 

"Your voice is really pretty..." She told me, making my cheeks light up once again. 

"Hey, I should be saying that to you. You're the main singer in the band after all!" Amity barely chuckled, nuzzling just a bit closer to me. She still smelt like vanilla and pine, a wave of calm suddenly rushing over me. 

"Still... you should sing more often..." She said, making me smile. I kissed the top of her head, feeling a bit of a blush return to my cheeks. 

"Buenas noches hermosa." I said softly, resting my chin a little more on the top of her head. She mumbled something in response as my eyes fluttered shut. "What was that Ammy?" 

"Buenas noches Luz..." She paused, a warm feeling rising in my chest as the words left her mouth. "Did I say that right?" 

"You did..." I said, my voice slightly higher than before. 

"Okay, good." She gave me one last squeeze, then let out a long sigh. I mimicked her actions, feeling myself slowly fall asleep with her in my arms.


	32. Magic practice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No important notes for this chapter!

Amity POV:

I slowly slipped out of my blank dream, feeling myself start to wake up even though I didn't open my eyes. My body felt warm practically all over, one of my arms numb, the sound of Luz's heartbeat softly thumping in my ears. 

My free ear barely twitched as it caught the faint sound of music around me, sounding similar to the tune that Luz was humming last night. Taking a deep breath, I was met with the smell of Luz, which was a pleasant mix of sleep and pine. 

She was slowly running a hand up and down my back, softly humming along with the song. I could feel her legs shift slightly, trying not to move much since they were tangled with mine. Her hand that was running down my back went back up, now slowly running itself through my hair. 

"This is all that matters."

"Lying here beside her."

Her voice held a hint of huskiness in it, telling me that she woke up not too long ago. The hand that was running through my hair moved closer to my ear, making it twitch. 

"Silent nods of understanding."

"Endless fits of laughter." 

I didn't have to look at her to tell that she was smiling. Without saying anything, I nuzzled a little closer to her, burying my head in her neck. She didn't miss a beat and carefully pulled me closer, moving so that she wouldn't wake me, since she still didn't know I was up. 

"This is all that matters."

"Can't stop staring at her."

Luz's hand started to run up and down my back again, making me squeeze her a bit tighter. I could hear her breathing hitch for a second before returning back to normal. 

"This is all that matters."

"This is all that matters."

The song ended on a sweet note, then Luz let out a soft sigh. Then, she gave me a quick kiss on the top of my head, nearly making me squeak. "Eres hermosa mientras estas dormida." She mumbled softly. 

I couldn't understand most of the sentence, but the one word I was able to pick out was the word beautiful. I didn't move, not wanting to give away that I was awake yet. Luz slowly shifted again, straining to reach over for something before moving back to her original position. 

She started to hum a new tune under her breath as another song started playing, this one a little louder than the last. However, the song was quick to be shut off. "As much as I love AJR, now isn't a good time to jam out to Bang." 

When she figured I wasn't going to wake up, she let out a sigh of relief. I could hear the light sound of her setting something down, then she just laid still. There was silence for a moment, then the sound of Luz's window creaking open. 

A breeze blew in, making me involuntarily shiver and try to nuzzle closer to Luz for warmth. "Shoot..." I could hear her say, her body lightly shaking with a shiver as well. She moved slightly, her head tilting downward. "King!" She whisper shouted, earning a groan from the other end of the mattress. 

"What?" He asked back, his voice a lot louder than Luz's. She was quick to shush him, probably holding a finger up to her lips. 

"Not so loud!" She hissed, making my ears twitch. "She's still asleep." I could hear King sigh, probably rolling his bright eyes. "Look, I'm sorry to bug you, but do you mind passing me a blanket? Please?" 

"I don't get why you don't just shove her off of you and get it yourself." The demon mumbled, making Luz groan. 

"Because King, it'd be mean just to shove her off." There was silence for a moment, then King piped up again, his voice a lot more deadpan than the first time. 

"Does it look like I care?" His remark almost made me snort, but I stayed quiet. Luz let out a frustrated sound, but her body remained still. 

"Y'know, I really don't get you," She said after a minute as she started to run her hand through my hair once again. "you're just... so indecisive about how you feel towards Amity. One minute you're lying in her lap being all cute and the next minute you're pouting and blowing raspberries at her." 

"I'm the King of Demons! I can be as indecisive about someone as I want!" He said, his voice a little louder than before. Luz sucked in a deep breath, slowly letting it out as a sigh. 

"Alright look, could you please just pass me a blanket?" She asked the tiny demon again, which only made him groan. 

"I'm surprised you haven't tried to use your new spell powers to get one yet." It almost sounded like he was taunting Luz at this point. 

"Look King, you and I both know that if I knew how to make them work I wouldn't have bugged you. Now can you please just pass me a blanket?" There was a brief pause, then Luz added. "You can come over here too if you want." 

Another brief pause filled the room, then King started to grumble. His footsteps lightly echoed off the wood floor, then they disappeared before I felt him toss some kind of blanket over Luz and I. 

The blanket was fairly soft, but it was also cold, making me shiver again. Luz quickly pulled it over my shoulder, trapping the warmth inside. Then, I could hear her suck in a breath in pain, using her free hand to push something away. "King your horns!" She hissed, making the demon start to grumble again. 

Finally, Luz stayed still, the only thing moving was her hand that was still carefully running through my hair. Finally deciding to open my eyes, I squinted at how bright her room was. 

Letting out a low groan, I nuzzled closer to Luz, catching her attention. "Morning..." I mumbled in a raspy voice, feeling my ear twitch. 

"Morning Ammy!" Luz chirped, her voice still soft. "Sorry, did my moving wake you?" I slowly shook my head. 

"No... I've been up for a bit now." My response made Luz tense up a bit, making me chuckle. "Hermosa huh?" I said, a bit of a teasing tone in my voice. "Also, was that the same song from last night?" Luz let out a squeak, then a nervous laugh, making me laugh as well. 

"Oh, so you've been up for that long..." She mumbled, letting out another nervous laugh. "And yeah that's the song from yesterday. Y'know, I was about to ask when you were gonna get up since I don't think you're one to sleep in this late." 

"What time is it?" I barely lifted my head up, taking a glance around the room. The window, that was still cracked open, let a lot of different colored light into the small room, making me squint. 

"It's a little after nine, not too late into the day." Luz said as I laid my head back down with a sigh. 

"That's late to me." I mumbled, a slight chill running up my spine as Luz's hand slowly started to trail up and down my back again. "But you're cozy so I'm not surprised." 

"Mhm." She hummed before the two of us fell silent. Beside us, I could hear King shuffle around a bit, muttering something about how squishy the mattress was. "Hey Amity? You normally fidget in your sleep a lot?" 

"Huh?" I sat up again, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" Luz gave me a bit of a shrug. 

"Dunno. The few times we've fell asleep like this, you normally don't move. Last night though, you were all tense and kept shifting." I blinked a few times, my eyebrows slowly bunching together. 

"Not usually..." I mumbled before my eyes widened. "Did I wake you doing that?" Luz quickly shook her head. 

"No, no not at all! King was the one who woke me first actually." She jabbed a thumb towards a lump under the blanket. "I just noticed while I was trying to fall back asleep. Bad dream?" She asked, giving my arm a bit of a rub. 

"Not that I can remember." I said, this time fully sitting up and stretching my arms over my head, trying to push away the numbness in my one arm. "Sorry if that kept you up." I managed to get out while I was stretching.

"It didn't keep me up, don't worry." She told me as she rubbed her eyes with her hands, rolling her shoulder that I was laying on. 

Luz then sat up as well, her hair sticking out in a bunch of odd directions, and looking over at her, I couldn't help but chuckle. "You look cute with bedhead." 

Luz scoffed, waving away my statement. "Personally, I think I look like I stuck my finger in an electric socket every morning, but whatever you say." She gave me a bright smile, but I only gave her a confused look. Her smile faltered, then she sighed. "Don't worry about it." 

Still staring at the drummer, I slowly brought my hands up to her face, running my fingers through her bangs before I cupped her cheeks. She froze up for a moment, then leaned into my touch, her cheeks slowly warming up. 

"I still think it looks cute." I told her with a smile, feeling my ears slowly start to burn. Luz brought one of her hands up and rested it on top of mine, sending a few jolts up my arm. 

Then, an idea came to mind, making me smirk slightly before I started to scratch the spot between her jawline and her ears. She tensed up for a moment, then her eyes fluttered shut as she melted into my touch, a soft sigh escaping her lips. 

My ears twitched and burned a little more when I could hear the faint sound of a purr rising in her throat. "I thought you said humans don't purr?" Luz opened an eye to look at me, then shrugged. 

"Pretty sure this is just humming Ammy." She said, making me roll my eyes. I moved up a little higher, Luz making the sound a little louder. 

"Pretty sure that's purring." I argued, but Luz only shrugged again. 

"You say tomato, I say tomato." She mumbled, leaning a little more into my hand. "But hey, if you're gonna keep doing that, could you go up a little more?" I hesitated for a second, then did as she asked, making her let out another content sigh as she smiled. 

"I hope you know, I'm so holding this against you." I told her with a bit of a chuckle, making her laugh as well. 

"That's fair." She then gently placed her hands on both of my wrists, pulling my hands away. "After all, I just do the same thing to you." A glint suddenly filled her eyes, making my eyes widen. 

"Don't you dare-" I started, leaning back from Luz, who only let out a sinister chuckle before she lunged at me. I couldn't help but yelp, struggling to move away from her grasp while laughing. "Luz!" 

"C'mon Ammy!" She said with a laugh, trying to reach for me again. "You're cute when you purr!" Her statement caught me off guard, long enough for her to attack again. She gently cupped my face with her hands, scratching the sensitive spot by my ears. 

I sucked in a breath, feeling the burning feeling that spread across my face as I started to purr. "I hate you." I grumbled, turning my gaze downwards. Luz only chuckled, moving her fingers closer to my ears. 

"You and I both know that's a lie!" She said happily, her smile softening. "Besides, you're really cute when your ears flap too." I went to protest, but it only came out as a squeak.

Then, there was a loud buzzing sound, making Luz pull away from me with a yelp. "Weh?" King struggled to free himself from the blanket, trying to pull it off of his face, only to get it stuck around his horns. "What was that?" 

"The sound that came out of my mouth or the buzzing noise?" Luz asked, her voice a little shaky from the sudden scare. Looking back, I found my scroll, which buzzed once again with a call. 

A low sigh pushed past my lips as I reached over and picked it up, looking it over for a moment. "It's Em." I muttered out loud before hitting call, pressing the scroll against my ear. "Hello?" 

"Mittens!" She yelled, making me wince and pull the scroll away for a moment. "Was starting to worry we'd have to go searching for you!" 

I rolled my eyes. "Do you have to be so loud?" I asked her, only making her laugh in response. 

"I'm not that loud." She said, her voice a little quieter than the first time. I could hear somebody else talking in the background, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. "You over at your girlfriend's house? Is that why you've been ignoring our messages?" 

My eyes widened a bit as I watched Luz help King free himself from the blanket. "Oh, sorry about that. Things were just... hectic last night to say the least. I forgot to tell you I was staying the night." I could hear Emira choke back a laugh. 

"What do you mean by that?" She managed to say, making me roll my eyes.

"Probably not whatever you're thinking." I stated, freezing up when I heard her burst into laughter on the other end of the line. "I'm serious Em!" 

"I know!" She howled, struggling to pull herself together. "I know you're serious! Calm down a bit Mittens, it's not like I meant anything bad." I wanted to argue with her and say she knew exactly what she meant, but I stayed quiet. "I was genuinely curious that's all." 

"Sure you were." I mumbled, watching as Luz balled the blanket up before tossing it towards a corner of the room that had a few more blankets scattered around. By now, the demon was stretching his arms over his head and rubbing his eyes. "Anyways, what are you two doing?" 

"Oh, y'know the usual, committing arson." Emira said nonchalantly, making me fall quiet. We both stayed quiet for a moment, then Emira spoke up again. "I can't tell if you're taking me serious or not." 

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you two were committing arson." Luz froze up at my statement, looking back over at me with a look of concern. "What are you really doing?" I ignored Luz's look, trying to get answers out of my sister. 

"Just hanging out with Viney and Jerbo, helping Edric take care of the burns on his back." Somewhere in the background, I could hear Edric whimper, making me furrow my eyebrows together. 

"How'd he get those?" I questioned, hearing her fall quiet. 

"Uh..." There was a bit of hesitation in her voice. "Well, we were out in the bushes and... spell gone wrong?" Her statement sounded more like a question, then she laughed. "Oh, well geez look at the time, gotta get going! See ya Mittens, message us if you decide to stay at Luz's again tonight okay bye!" She spoke quickly, nearly too fast for me to understand. 

Then, there was a click on the other end, leaving me with silence. I pulled my scroll away, watching Luz look over at me before chuckling. "They sound busy." 

"Yeah..." I muttered, watching Luz stand up and stretch her arms in front of her. Then, she offered me a hand, giving me a smile. 

"How bout I go make us some breakfast huh?" She offered, making me perk up. I nodded my head, taking her hand and standing up. King also perked up at the mention of food, quickly bounding towards the door. "Want anything specific?" 

I shook my head, feeling my ears twitch. "I'm fine with whatever. But, first I'm gonna go change." Luz nodded her head, then started to make her way over to the door. 

"Fine by me. If you want, you can steal some of my clothes, or you can just change back into what you had yesterday, whatever you want to do." Her door opened with a loud creak, King quickly escaping the room. "I'll be down in the kitchen if you need anything!" 

She made sure to shut the door behind her, leaving me alone. Thinking it over for a minute, I slowly went over to her duffel bag, flipping open the flap. Grabbing the first shirt and pair of pants I saw, I quickly started to change out of my pajamas. 

Once I changed into the new clothes, which was just a baggy black shirt with a small eyeball over my heart and a pair of jeans, I started to fold up the other clothes. Glancing at my pajama shirt, I couldn't help but tilt my head. 

There was some kind of green, square creature on the front, with dark eyes and a frowning face. "I should have Luz explain what you are..." I mumbled aloud, folding the shirt up before setting it in a pile. Then, standing back up, I ran my hands through my hair in an attempt to straighten it before I opened the door and went downstairs to meet up with Luz. 

Walking down the steps, I winced at how loud they creaked under my weight. From the kitchen, I could hear the faint sound of Luz happily humming a tune. Peering into the kitchen,I saw her moving about as she tended to some kind of machine by the stove while the tiny demon sat on the table, lightly bopping his head to her humming. There was also the owl lady sitting at the table, leaning on her hand, clearly only partially awake. 

She suddenly paused, turning around to look at King. "Do you think that'd be too high of a note? It feels off to me..." Her eyes met up with mine before lighting up, quickly waving me over. "Hey Ammy! Hope you don't mind having waffles!" 

I gave her a smile and slowly walked over, taking a seat by the owl lady. She glanced over at me, then turned back to Luz, her ear twitching. "You want one Eda?" Luz asked as she turned back towards the silver haired witch. 

Eda let out a dry laugh, running her hands along her face and pulling at the skin. "What I want is a pick me up..." She muttered, eyeing the cooler. However, Luz shook her head.

"You don't need apple blood this early in the morning." She paused for a minute, then walked over to the cooler, pulling out an orange bottle and passing it over to the witch. "However, I'm pretty sure you need this." 

Glancing over at the bottle, I realized that whatever was inside was some kind of elixir. Eda stared at the bottle for a moment, then sighed, pulling off the cork and quickly chugging about half of it. "Sure, I'll have one of those waffle things." She finally said, making Luz smile. 

"Great!" Luz glanced back at the weird machine for a moment, then back to her mentor. "Y'know, I was a little surprised to find you up before all of us." She commented, making Eda snort. 

"Why's that? You think I can't get up before you do?" Luz shook her head.

"No, not that, it's just, you're more of a nocturnal person. Which makes sense cause you turn into a giant owl sometimes." Luz mumbled the last part, quickly shaking her head. "I'm just used to you waking up later." 

Eda snorted again, this time gently nodding her head. "Alright, that's true. Still, you can blame our alarm system for waking me up early." She jabbed a thumb in some direction, making Luz furrow her eyebrows together. 

"Hooty? What'd he find so early in the morning? Or was it some kind of nightmare?" Luz moved over towards the machine, pulling it open for a moment before closing it again. The silver haired witch sighed, rubbing her eyes. 

"Honestly I don't know what happened. I go outside after he started yelling intruder and find him trying to strangle some weird green creature speaking in tongues. Took a bit to get him to let go, and when he did, the thing looked at him and said something I couldn't understand, then flew off." 

Luz and I looked at one another, confusion written clear on both of our faces. "Was it like, speaking demon tongue?" I asked, but the witch only shrugged. 

"No clue. It kinda reminded me of that language you slip into sometimes " She pointed a finger at Luz before she ran a hand through her hair, glancing towards the direction of the front door. "When I asked Hooty, all he told me was they were sworn enemies? Honestly, it's things like these that make me wonder if he's starting to go crazy." 

"You act like he wasn't already crazy before." King muttered, making the silver haired witch nod her head. 

"Well, that's Hooty for ya." Luz muttered, then turned back to me, a smile clear on her face. "How many do you want?" She asked, making me perk up. 

"One would be fine." She gave me a nod, then moved over by the stove, flipping open the machine and quickly putting the waffle on a plate before passing it over to King, who didn't hesitate to start to eat it despite the fact it was still really hot. Luz started to hum that tune again, making me smile. "So, what mystery song is that?" 

Luz spun around, a confused look on her face for a moment before her eyes lit up. "Oh, it's not some mystery song!" She said, then let out a bit of a laugh. "Kinda just a tune I came up with on the fly and it's been stuck in my head. Might make it into a song if you let me!" 

"You've already come up with another song?" I raised an eyebrow, honestly a little surprised. "Yeesh, and I thought I was quick for coming up with songs only months apart." 

"Well, technically this one is months from the last song I came up with, since you're the one who mostly came up with Arms Tonite." Luz pointed out, pouring some sort of batter into the machine before closing it. "And it's not like I have much planned for this song yet, mostly just a tune that sounds nice and maybe an idea for it." 

"And this idea would be?" I asked, making her smile. Beside me, King finished off the last bite of his food, lightly shoving the plate away from him before jumping off the counter, disappearing into the living room. 

"I guess you could call it... maybe a sequel of sorts to Little Miss Perfect." Luz said, giving me jazz hands. "Honestly though, that's all I've got for it so far." 

"If you two are gonna keep jabbering, you're gonna burn the food." Eda said with a smirk, making Luz yelp and spin back around, pulling open the machine and removing the waffle. 

She placed that one on a plate as well, quickly sliding it over to the owl lady. "Here ya go Eda!" She chirped, making Eda smile. 

"Thanks kiddo." Eda grabbed her plate and stood up, slowly heading towards the living room. "Meet me outside whenever you're ready to start testing your new powers. Just don't take forever." 

"We won't!" Luz called after her, turning back to the machine and putting more batter into it. "Sorry this is taking so long Ammy." 

I shook my head, leaning slightly on the heel of my hand. "It's fine Luz." She turned back around to face me, leaning down on the counter as well. We stared at each other for a moment, then Luz smirked, sticking her tongue out at me.

Eventually, Luz went back over to the machine and pulled the waffle onto a plate, sliding it over to me. "Ta da! Here you are, one piping hot waffle!" She then slid me over some other container. "Here's some syrup if you want some." 

"Thanks." I watched as she spun back around, pouring the last of her batter into the machine before putting the bowl in the sink. Glancing down at my plate, I poured on a small but of the syrup she gave me, then grabbed my fork and cut myself a small bite. 

Placing the bite in my mouth I was instantly met with a buttery flavor spreading over my tongue. I let out a content hum, feeling my ears start to flap. "I take you like it?" Luz said with a bit of a chuckle, making me quickly nod my head. "Glad you do." 

"It's so good!" I said, sticking another bite in my mouth. 

"I know right? That's why waffles are my favorite for breakfast!" Luz said happily, quickly moving towards the machine and pulling it open. "Besides, they go really well with fruit and stuff, which technically makes them kinda healthy. Too bad Eda doesn't have any to put on them." 

"She probably has some Boiling Isles fruit, if you want some of those." I suggested, making her nod her head. She moved over and took a seat next to me, cutting herself a piece and popping it into her mouth. 

"Yeah she does, but it's not the same as a few slices of banana and some blueberries." Luz paused, then eyed me up and down, letting her fork hang from her mouth for a moment. "Y'know, you look like a strawberry type of person..." She finally said, then she cut herself another piece. 

"I'm just gonna pretend I know what that is." I muttered, taking another bite of my waffle. 

"I'll get some next time I head to the human realm which is..." Luz paused, lightly tapping her fork against her plate for a second. "A few days from now! Remind me, I'll get you some strawberries." 

"Okay then." We both fell quiet for a moment, continuing to eat our food. By the time we started another conversation, both of us had finished our breakfast. Luz took our plates and put them in the sink, giving them a quick rinse before leaving them there, much to my annoyance. 

"Well, I'm gonna go change out of these real quick! Meet you outside with Eda?" I stared at the plates in the sink for a moment, then nodded my head, making Luz bounce on her heels "Great! I won't be long!" She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then disappeared upstairs. 

I stood frozen in place for a moment, bringing a hand up to my cheek before letting out a sigh. "It doesn't matter how many times she does it..." I muttered to myself, quickly bringing my hands up to cover my ears. 

Heading towards the hallway to make it to the living room, I paused. Then, with a sigh, I moved back over to the sink and quickly washed the dishes, carefully sticking them in their respective cupboards. "There." I said, once I was finished with the few dishes there were. "That was going to bug me." 

Now heading outside, I was met with King sitting by the door and the owl lady standing a little ways away from the house with her staff. She perked up when she saw me leave, but noticed I was alone. "Where is she?" She asked me. 

"Right here!" Luz swung open the door, making me jump. She shot me an apologetic smile, then darted off towards Eda, a small notebook in her hand. "Sorry bout that! Wanted to change real quick." 

The door shut itself, revealing Hooty, who turned to look at me for a moment, a bright glint in his usually dark eyes. I shot him a glare back, making him turn back towards the other two. I stood there for a minute, then slowly sat down on the ground, crossing my legs. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see King turn to look at me for a moment, then he returned his attention back up ahead. 

"Alright great, before we start testing your new powers, we're gonna start with the usual warm up." Luz vigorously nodded her head, taking the pencil from the top of her notebook and holding it ready. "You know the drill, five minutes starts now." 

Luz then quickly started drawing out glyphs, ripping them off the notebook and carefully setting them in a pile. I watched for a couple of moments, then leaned over towards King. "What does she mean by five minutes?" 

"Eda gives her five minutes to draw out a bunch of glyphs, then they fight one another with however many spells Luz managed to draw out." King said nonchalantly. I blinked, staring at the two of them again. 

"Wow." Was all I said for a moment, then turned back to the demon. "So, when she runs out of glyphs, do they stop?" King shook his head, making my eyes widen a bit. 

"Nah, they keep going until one of them calls it off. Luz just has to make her spells on the fly at that point." The demon looked up at me, staring at me for a moment. 

"But don't worry!" Hooty's voice sharply said, making me jump. The tube owl stretched down till he was at our level. "Eda hasn't killed Luz yet!" King and I turned to face the owl, then turned to each other. 

"Clearly." I mumbled, turning my gaze towards the two in front of us. Out of the corner of my eye I could see King look towards me. 

I could feel him give me a slight nudge. "Don't worry too much. The worst Eda's done is give her a few burns. Luz avoids her attacks pretty well and besides, it's not like Eda's actively trying to kill her." 

"If she was, it'd be concerning." I said, making both of them nod. 

"Besides, if she was trying to kill her, Luz would've been dead forever ago! Hoot hoot!" The door owl got closer to my face, making me scowl. Then, I gave him a rough shove, making King laugh. 

"Time's up!" Eda said, catching my attention. Looking back out, I watch Luz quickly get to her feet, holding the decent sized pile of spells with one hand, the notebook in the other. "You know how this goes."

Luz slumped down a bit, shoving the notebook in her back pocket. "I still don't get why you want me to try and insult you while we battle." 

"Because," Eda started, placing a hand on Luz's shoulder. "if you can get under your opponent's skin, you win. Therefore, we need to practice that too. Especially since you're so nice. Now... you need a motive..."

The owl lady rubbed her chin, turning in our direction. "Have her imagine she's fighting my demon army!" King called out, making Eda snort and shake her head. 

"What army? Last I checked, she'd just need to punt you and she'd win." I held back a laugh, glancing over to see the demon pouting. "No, today, imagine you're trying to protect uh..." 

Her golden eyes met mine, quickly lighting up with an idea. However, before she said anything, her eyes darted back over to Luz, then she quickly shook her head. 

"Imagine you're protecting the house. I know Hooty can usually handle whatever comes around, but we're gonna pretend he's been sleep spelled or something." Luz nodded her head, looking back towards the three of us for a moment, giving us a thumbs up.

Then, I could see Eda's eyes darken, a subtle smirk rising to her lips. King let out a chuckle, grabbing onto my arm and giving it a shake. "The show's about to start!" 

It took a second, but Luz caught on to our reactions and turned back around to face Eda, who had already moved back and drew out a spell circle that summoned a decent sized fireball, quickly sending it in Luz's direction. 

Luz dodged, quickly tapping one of her glyphs and threw it in the owl lady's direction, making vines shoot up from the ground. While she moved out of the way to dodge that, Luz tapped another one of her spells and threw it, nearly hitting Eda with a fireball. 

"Really kid? That's all you've got?" Eda said with a snort, quickly tapping her staff against the ground and sending sharp rocks towards Luz. "Y'know, honestly thought you'd be better with how long you've been training."

An ice wall shot up from the ground, stopping the rocks from moving any further, then Luz shot up over the wall on a plant vine. "That just shows what kind of a mentor you are, doesn't it?" She snapped back, making King squeal. 

The two continued to fight, spells shooting through the air while insults were thrown back and forth, most of Luz's insults falling flat. It was clear that Eda wasn't using her full power, but that didn't stop my hands from tightly gripping the fabric of my jeans when one of Eda's spells managed to hit Luz, sending her flying back a bit. However, Luz was already back on her feet before I could blink, running towards Eda again. 

"Her glyphs have lasted a lot longer." King said after a little while, catching my attention. "I can't tell if she's spacing them out or if she just has a lot of them this time." 

"I can go check!" Hooty chirped. 

"No." King and I said at the same time, making the owl shrink back into the door. Then, I let out a yelp when a loud explosion went off in the field, quickly turning my attention back to the two fighting. 

There was smoke billowing up between them, Luz standing closest to us, heavily panting as her eyes scanned the smoke. Two more smaller explosions went off, making me tense up, my ears going down. 

I continued to stare at Luz, who only stood in place, still scanning the smoke. "What's your problem?" I heard King ask, making me just shake my head. Eda suddenly appeared at Luz's side, a spell circle ready to attack. 

However, Luz was prepared. She tossed one of her glyphs up, which quickly flashed a bright light, making the silver haired witch stumble back. Then, just as fast, Luz cast an ice glyph, capturing Eda in the ice. 

"Woah! Okay enough!" Eda said, glancing down at her new icy prison. "Light spell as a distraction, smart." 

Luz laughed, saying something quiet enough that I couldn't hear it. King rapidly tapped my arm, making me look over at him. He was bouncing up and down with energy, his eyes glittering. "She hasn't beat Eda in forever!" 

I glanced back over at the two, watching Luz tap another glyph that lit up into a fireball, then hovered it close to Eda to free her from the ice. Once the ice melted, I could see the owl lady shiver.

"Still need to work on the insults though. I will say, the mentor one was a good start." Eda gave Luz a rough pat on the back, making her stumble. "It's a start!" 

"It's hard to insult you though cause I care about you." Luz said, making Eda roll her eyes. "I'm serious Eda!" 

"I know you are." The witch said, giving Luz a bit of a shove. "Alright you dork, before you go into a whole tangent about why you care about me go drop your notebook off by Blight so we can test your new powers." Luz nodded her head, jogging over in my direction. 

She stopped in front of me, staring at me with a smirk. "Hey, you come around here often?" I rolled my eyes, making her laugh. I could smell the faint smell of smoke lingering in the air, which only made my ears twitch.

"Luz come on!" Eda called out, a slightly annoyed tone in her voice. Luz glanced back at the witch for a moment, then back to me, giving me a smile. 

"Mind holding these for me?" She quickly passed off her few remaining glyphs and her notebook, which I set down in my lap. Then, she made her way back over to Eda, eagerly bouncing up and down. 

The silver haired witch sent her staff in my direction, which flew over until it leaned against the wall. "Okay, let's see here." Eda clapped her hands together, her ears twitching. "Spell casting... how would I explain how this works?" She asked aloud, making Luz shrug. 

Luz suddenly turned in our direction. "Amity! How would explain how spell casting works?" I blinked a few times, then shrugged. 

"You kinda just have to picture what you want. Feel it flow through to your hand as you cast the spell." Eda nodded her head to what I was saying, making Luz nod her head as well. 

"Yeah that's basically it." The owl lady said, starting to slowly draw out a spell. "The hardest part is casting the spell, but once you've got it started, you're pretty much golden." 

"Just don't lose focus." I added on, Luz nodding her head again. 

"What she said." Eda completed her small spell circle, making a small ball of light. "And remember, the larger the spell circle, the larger the spell and the more energy it takes." The silver haired witch drew put a larger spell, creating a bigger ball of light. "See what I mean?"

"I can't really see anything." Luz told her as she tried to shield her vision from the bright light. Eda quickly canceled both spells and Luz rubbed her eyes, probably trying to clear the spots from her vision. 

"Very funny." The owl lady said, her voice deadpan. Then, she shook her head, giving Luz a bit of a nudge. "Now, follow my lead and remember to focus."

Luz eagerly nodded her head, then held a hand out, slowly tracing circles in the air. King gave me a tap, taking my attention off of Luz for a moment. Once he had my attention, he crawled up in my lap, curling up into a ball. "You've got a good spot in the sun, I'm stealing it." I could hear him say. 

Hooty moved down towards us, his eyes lighting up. "I wanna be a part of this too!" He said loudly, stretching up until he rested himself on the top of my head. I let out a low growl, tempted to shove the owl off. However, instead of pushing him away, I sighed and let him stay. 

Turning my gaze back up to Luz, I could see she was still trying to draw out another spell circled her eyes closed in concentration. "Just takes a spark of focus kiddo." Eda told her, making her nod her head. 

From where I was sitting, I could see Luz's lips moving, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. Then, the start of a spell circle appeared in the air, making Luz freeze. She slowly opened one of her eyes, then I could see her face light up. 

"I did it!" Luz bounced up and down, which broke the spell and made it disappear. The owl lady let out a snort, nearly doubling over in laughter, making Luz look down and realize the spell was gone. "Shoot..."

Eda placed a hand on Luz's shoulder, still laughing. "Try again." She managed to get out between chuckles. "Just do whatever you just did. And this time, don't move around so much." 

"Got it!" Luz took a deep breath, running a hand through her hair before holding her hand out again. She stood frozen for a moment, then started to trace a circle in the air, a dark green line following her finger. 

You could see the excitement clear on her face, but she struggled to remain still. "You didn't do any kind of spell that's gonna explode right? I'm standing right in front of you." Eda asked, making Luz shake her head. 

"If I did this right, it should be a light spell." Luz said, hesitating before she complete the spell. "But, maybe you should move just in case." Eda nodded, then stepped to the side, still watching the spell. 

Luz connected the spell circle, then a ball of light floated in front of her, this time not instantly disappearing like the one from last night. Eda had a beaming smile on her face, bringing a hand up to ruffle Luz's hair. 

While Luz happily started going on to Eda about how she was able to cast a spell, King gave my leg a rough jab, dragging my gaze down to him. "What?" I asked, watching him flip over onto his back so that he could look up at me. 

"I'm hungry." He whined, making me roll my eyes. Picking him up out of my lap, I held him under his arms and set him back down on his feet. 

"So then go get yourself something to eat." I muttered, motioning towards the door. His eyes slanted downwards, then he flopped down onto the ground, folding his arms over his chest. 

"Well what if I don't want to go alone?" He asked, turning his head away from me. I glanced up at Luz and Eda again, seeing Luz trying to draw out another spell circle. 

"Why don't you want to go alone?" I asked, turning back down to the demon. "Too short to raid the pantry or something?" The demon huffed, turning his gaze down to the floor before mumbling something I couldn't understand. "What?" 

"Maybe..." He finally said, nearly making me laugh. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the laugh that wanted to bubble up, instead, I let out sigh and stood up. 

"Fine, I'll come with you." I said, making him perk up. He quickly got onto his feet, a happy squeak escaping his muzzle. "Open up Hooty." I said, but the door owl only spun around. 

"What's the magic word?" He asked, his voice sounding even more obnoxious than usual. I rolled my eyes, feeling my ears twitch. 

"Please?" The door owl continued to spin around, still not opening up. 

"Nope! It's hoot!" He said, making my eyebrows furrow together. I rubbed my temples, clenching my jaw so I wouldn't say anything. Then, I heard a soft thud, finding King kicking the door. 

"Just poke him in the eyes!" He told me, making my eyes widen. I looked up at Hooty, then back down at King. 

"He looks like he'd bite me if I tried." I muttered, making the demon squeal. "Just open the door." I looked back up at the owl. He didn't do anything for a moment, making me sigh. "Hoot?" 

Hooty stopped spinning, his eyes lighting up before he opened the door. "If they ask where you went I'll let them know!" He said as we stepped inside, then he closed the door. 

King tore off towards the kitchen, leaving me alone in the living room. I quickly followed after him, and by the time I got to the kitchen, I found him jumping in front of the pantry door, struggling to reach the handle. 

Walking up behind him, he looked up at me before his eyes slanted downwards. "Took you long enough!" He said, making me roll my eyes again. 

"You're the one who ran into the kitchen, don't get your tail into a twist." I pulled open the door, met with decently stocked shelves. "So what do you want?" 

The demon held his arms up in the air, motioning for me to pick him up. Bending down, I lifted the tiny creature up, holding him in my arms. His eyes scanned over the food, one hand scratching his chin. Then, he let out an excited squeak and pointed to some kind of box. 

I had no idea what it was, but I plucked one out of its box, realizing it was some kind of squishy, yellow cylinder wrapped in plastic. "What even is this thing?" I asked him as he took it out of my hands. 

He tore open the plastic with his mouth, then took the weird food out and took a bite, revealing a white center. "Some kind of human food Luz got once. I don't know what it is, but it's delicious." He told me with food in his mouth.

I glanced back at the pantry, then to King before I shook my head and closed the pantry door. "Luz could poison you and you'd be fine with it as long as food was involved." I told him, making him nod his head. 

"You're right! Problem is, Luz is too nice to do that." I thought about it for a moment, then nodded my head, watching as the demon shoved the last bit of the yellow food in his mouth. 

My ear twitched when I heard the front door open again, Luz and Eda's voice floating into the kitchen. A minute later, Eda popped her head around the corner, rolling her eyes when she saw the two of us. 

"So you two just dip to go get snacks?" She questioned, making King roll his eyes. 

"Not like you were gonna help me get any food." The demon said, only making Eda fold her arms over her chest. Luz slowly walked into the room soon after, leaning slightly against the door frame. "She was surprisingly nice enough to get me snacks." 

"You act like Amity's never nice." Luz said with a chuckle, her voice holding a tired tune. King leaned over to look at her, then he turned to me before turning back to Luz. 

"She's sometimes nice." He finally said, making me chuckle. Eda rolled her eyes and picked him up off the counter. "Weh? Hey! Put me down!" 

"Stop using people to get you food." Eda said as the demon squirmed in her arms, trying to break himself free. She glanced down at the plastic wrapping then sighed, bringing a hand up to rub the bridge of her nose. "And of course you grab one of the most sugar filled items to eat." 

"What?" Luz walked over, glancing at the wrapper before nodding her head. "Oh, a Twinkie. Of course." She mumbled, looking over at King. 

"Hey it's not like she knew what it was!" King argued, making Eda just shake her head. 

"That's my point. You just used her to get your sugar fix." The owl lady said, glaring at the demon. "So that means, you're gonna come help me to burn off your energy." 

"What? No!" King tried to squirm out of Eda's grasp again, but she held him tight, taking him towards the living room. "No! I'm not gonna help you with your chores!" 

"Too bad shortstack." Eda said as she disappeared around the corner, Luz and I watching the two of them leave for a moment. 

Luz then turned to me, a bright smile on her face. "I managed to do five light spells outside!" She told me excitedly, making a smile appear on my face as well. 

"Did that wear you out?" I asked her, making her nod her head. 

"A little bit..." She rubbed the back of her neck, then shrugged. "Eda said I should probably stop for the day so I don't burn out. She told me we can keep practicing tomorrow though! And hey, once I get enough practice, it'll be good for carrying band supplies and stuff." I nodded my head, slowly moving over to Luz's side. 

"Before you levitate any equipment, you better know how to gently cancel out the spell." I told her, receiving a nod in response. There was a bit of silence for a moment, then she leaned her head on my shoulder with a sigh. 

"Wanna go hang out in my room?" She asked me, then she gasped. "We can read Azura if you want! I have the book upstairs, we can just start where you left off!" I felt a pale blush rise to my cheeks at how excited she was, then I nodded my head. 

"Sure, wanna do the voices like usual?" I asked, but surprisingly, Luz shook her head. 

"Normally I'd say yes, but I feel like I might fall asleep halfway through." She gave me a bit of a nudge, heading off towards the hallway. "I will however, do sound effects! Now c'mon!"

She bounded off towards the hallway, leaving me to quickly follow after her with a laugh. We both went upstairs, going into her room and closing the door. I flopped down onto her mattress while she moved over to her duffel bag, digging in it for a moment before she pulled out the book. 

Taking a seat next to me, she leaned her head on my shoulder and passed me the book, a soft chuckle escaped her lips. "I'm warning you now, I might get a little teary eyed." She told me, making me roll my eyes. 

"Alright." Was all I said, cracking open the book and quickly flipping to the page where I left off. Clearing my throat a couple of times, I started at the top of the page, feeling Luz sink a little more onto my shoulder. 

Time practically flew by, the two of us slowly getting through the chapter, me doing the voices and Luz doing the sound effects. "Then, he held his hand out, summoning his staff." My eyes widened slightly, my eyes quickly darting across the page. 

"Not... not another step." I put on my raspy voice, quickly flipping the page. "In one swift motion, he pointed his staff towards the injured Hecate, the top glowing a bright, menacing green." 

"He wouldn't dare..." I mumbled to myself, pausing in my narration for a moment. Shaking my head, I continued to read. 

"'Don't!' Azura shouted, reaching out towards the snake man, only making him laugh." My fingers tapped the book's cover in nervousness. 

"'Don't what?' The snake man asked back, making Azura freeze up. She looked between the man, then to Hecate, and despite the orange haired witch's protests, Azura lunged at the snake man, hoping to take the staff from his hands." 

I couldn't help but gasp, feeling my ears go down. "She's just lunging at him? No spells, no nothing?" I fell quiet when I didn't get a response from Luz. "Luz?" I looked over at the drummer, finding her fast asleep on my shoulder. 

Freezing up, I looked between her and the book. On one hand, I wanted to keep reading, but on the other hand, I knew my reactions would probably wake her up. 

With a soft sigh, I carefully bookmarked the page I was on, then set it down at my side. Wrapping an arm around Luz, I moved her off of my shoulder and slowly laid her down, making sure to move slow not to wake her. 

Then, I laid down next to her, staying a small distance away. I stared at the ceiling for a moment, running over what just happened in the book through my head. After a minute, I took a deep breath. "I can't just leave it at that." 

Reaching for the book, I quickly opened it and continued to read, this time in my head. I was maybe a paragraph or two from where I left off when Luz shifted, turning on her side towards me before wrapping her arm around my waist. 

I tensed up at the contact, losing my place in the book to look over at Luz. She was still asleep, her chest slowly rising and falling. I stayed frozen for a few more seconds, then loosened up, a smile rising to my face. 

I stared at Luz for a few moments longer, then turned my attention back to the book, quickly picking up where I left off.


	33. Band gathering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DIDN'T DISAPPEAR FOR ALMOST TWO WEEKS WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT????
> 
> Anyways- that's besides the point, here's another chapter

Boscha POV: 

The loud sound of a barking alarm made me crack an eye open. Bright sunlight was pouring into the room from the window, casting odd shadows along the floor. One half of my body felt warm and numb while the other side felt cold, the blanket that was covering me the night before now crumpled up towards the foot of the bed. 

"Willow..." I mumbled in a tired voice, lightly tapping the top of her head. "Get up. Your alarm." Willow shifted, nuzzling her head more into my neck as she gave my waist a squeeze. 

"Five more minutes..." She told me in a soft voice, making my ears twitch. I tapped the top of her head again, making her groan. Taking one arm off my waist, she drew a small circle in the air, silencing her alarm. 

Rolling my eyes, I tapped her head for a third time. "You've gotta get up, I've gotta get to band practice soon. Am will kill me if I'm late." Willow sat up a bit, looking at me before squinting. 

"Isn't she late because of Luz all the time?" Both of us went quiet for a moment, which seemed to satisfy the witch because she laid her head back down on my shoulder. 

"Good point..." I finally muttered after a minute, still staring at the ceiling. Blinking a few times, I ran my free hand through my hair. "Still, you've got your workout and you have class, so you've gotta get up." 

Willow let out a low groan, then finally sat up, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "I'm a little surprised you're actually passing up on the five extra minutes." She told me, which only made me roll my eyes. 

"Believe me, it's not like I want to. But knowing my luck, if I'm late, I'll miss Luz growing a pair of dragon wings or something." Willow froze up, then turned to face me, raising an eyebrow. 

"Now why would she do that?" She asked, making me chuckle. 

"I mean, a few months ago she got really hurt, then last month, not only did Luz and Amity get together, but turns out she can do magic without her glyphs now! So who's not to say something like that would happen? Especially considering the fact it's the day before a show." I paused for a minute, my eyebrows furrowing together. "Wouldn't this mean she's technically a legit half a witch now?"

"First off, don't jinx yourself, and second, don't call her that. Amity would probably kill you for it." Willow told me, rubbing her eyes. 

"I never said I would call her that." Folding my arms over my chest, I tried to hide the defensive tone in my voice. 

"Third, it'd technically make her a witch and a half, since she could do magic with the glyphs before. And only way I can see Luz growing wings is if she figures out how to do an illusion of them." I watched as the witch reached over to the side table and grabbed her glasses, quickly putting them on. "Honestly though, knowing Luz she would do it." 

The plant witch stood up, stretching her arms over her head before she moved over towards her dresser. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, glancing at the plants in her window sill. 

"She'd probably also try to fly with them..." A laugh rose up from my throat as I imagined what would happen. We both went quiet for a moment, then I turned back towards Willow. "You mind if I steal your shower while you do your workout?" I asked, hearing her chuckle as she turned back around to face me. 

"Are you actually gonna yank my shower up from the ground?" I shot the witch a glare, making her chuckle again. 

"You know what I mean." Standing up, I moved over towards Willow, draping my arms over her shoulders and resting my chin on the top of her head. 

"Still figured it'd be good to clarify." She told me, reaching into her dresser and pulling out a tank top and a pair of shorts. "But yeah you can. Just don't take all the hot water."

I laughed, giving her a soft shake. "Aw, but I thought pretty flowers like you liked cold water?" My voice held a teasing tone, making the witch below me scoff. 

"And I thought pretty plant kissers like you would like to stay on my good side?" She asked back, making me roll my eyes.

"Oh but I am staying on your good side, after all, all your sides are good." A low squeak came from the witch, then she chuckled, lightly shoving me away. "What? It's the truth!" 

"Just go shower you flirt!" She managed to say, her voice slightly higher than normal. I laughed, giving her a light shove back. 

"Fine, fine, I'll go!" I paused for a moment, then moved back over towards her closet. "But first, I'm stealing some clothes. Where do you keep all of my shirts that I've given you?" I moved some of her shirts that were hanging up, but Willow gently pushed me back. 

Drawing a small spell in the air, a bunch of her shirts moved to the side, revealing one of my light blue, long sleeve shirts I gave her a while back. "There's that one, if you want it anyways..." I pulled it off the hanger, glancing it over for a moment. 

"This one will work." I muttered, flipping the shirt over to see the talon claw marks that decorated the back. "Honestly surprised you still have this one..."

"Of course I'd still have it! That one is one of the soft ones!" She folded her arms over her chest, her cheeks lightly puffed out and her ears down. A low chuckled bubbled up as I took the shirt off the hanger, passing the hanger back to Willow. 

She passed me a pair of shorts in return, and I gave her a smile then a small salute. "Alright, I'll meet you down in the kitchen, sound good?" Willow nodded her head. "Great! Hope you don't mind if I steal some breakfast when I'm done." 

"What makes you think I would?" She asked as I walked out of her room, heading towards the bathroom. I shrugged in response, hearing Willow close her door behind me. 

I took a quick shower, putting on the clothes that Willow lent me before I ruffled my hair with a towel. Quickly brushing my hair, I shot myself a smirk in the mirror. "Still a star." I mumbled to no one in particular before opening the bathroom door, watching the steam flow out into the cool hallway. 

Glancing over at Willow's door, I noticed how it was still closed, meaning she was still doing her workout. I stared for a moment, then turned my gaze towards the stairs, slowly making my way towards them. 

My hand trailed lightly on the hand rail, my gaze moving across the room. I noticed someone sitting in the kitchen, the soft sound of a flipping paper making my ears lightly twitch. 

"Morning Mr. Park." A soft sound of surprise came from the man, making his floating newspaper rustle. He looked up towards the stairs, running a hand through his beard before he gave me a familiar warm smile, his eyes softening. 

"Good morning Boscha." He greeted back, his voice filled with a cheery tone. His hand lightly pushed his newspaper down to the table before he turned his head to glance back at the time. "Want me to make you some breakfast?" 

I gave him a smile, but I softly shook my head. "Thanks, but I wouldn't want to bother you, I can just make myself some toast." Mr. Park leaned back slightly in his chair, reaching a hand up to rub his eyes. 

"It wouldn't be a bother, but alright." He told me, his gaze moving over towards the window as I moved over to the counter. We went quiet for a moment, a comfortable feeling filling the air. "Is Willow up yet?" His voice suddenly asked, making me turn my head in his direction. 

"Yeah, she is." I simply responded, making him hum. The two of us fell quiet again, my ears perking up a bit when I heard him pick up his newspaper, flipping to a page. A few minutes passed, then there was a loud creak from the top of the stairs. 

Looking over my shoulder, I watched as Willow quickly made her way downstairs, moving to her dad's side and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Morning Pops." She greeted with a smile before looking around. "Where's dad?" 

"Morning to you too sunshine, he's outside right now." He said as Willow walked over to me, giving me a light nudge. The sound of his chair scraping against the floor made my ears twitch, then his footsteps started to trail away. "I'll be outside with him if you girls need anything." 

"Alright!" We both called after him, then I chuckled and gave Willow a bit of a nudge. 

"I didn't steal all the hot water, did I flower?" I asked her, watching as her cheeks turned pink. She glanced over at me, then rolled her eyes. 

"No you didn't." The plan witch grabbed a plain piece of bread and took a bite before she spun on her heel and started to walk away. "Surprisingly." She muttered the last part with a smile, just barely loud enough for me to hear. 

"Wow." I placed a hand over my chest, shooting her a fake look of hurt. She glanced back at me, rolling her eyes when she saw my reaction. "And I thought you trusted me." Putting on a fake pout, I struggled not to laugh. 

"Never said I didn't." Willow told me as she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose before taking another bite of bread. 

"You implied it though." I argued, cracking a smile. Willow only sighed, softly shaking her head before glancing at the time. I took a look at the time as well, sucking in a sharp breath between my teeth. "Shoot, I should probably get going."

Drawing out a quick spell, I felt my hair dry before I started to put it the usual bun. Spinning back around to the counter, I grabbed my toast by the corner, hoping it'd quickly cool down. I could hear Willow's footsteps behind me, then I let out a sharp yelp when I was suddenly scooped up in her arms. 

"C'mon, you can stay for a bit longer." Willow told me with a laugh, giving me a squeeze. "At least a minute longer?" 

I lightly tapped her arm, trying to look angry, but failing because the giant smile on my face was giving me away. "As much as I'd love to-" I tried to squirm out of her grasp. "Am will seriously have my head. It's the practice before the show, and besides, I missed part of the last practice and I swear she looked like she was gonna hex me to death." 

"She wouldn't." The plant witch told me in a softer voice, giving me one last squeeze before putting me back down on my feet. I scoffed, shaking my head slightly. 

"She would. You and I both know that." I took a bite of my toast, glad that it didn't burn my tongue. 

Willow smiled, letting out a small chuckle. Then, she balanced on her tiptoes, reaching up to give me a kiss on the cheek. "Luz would stop her." I blinked a few times, feeling my ears lightly flap. 

A smile rose to my face as I turned back towards the witch, who was going pink in the cheeks. "You're too cute for your own good, y'know that?" I told her, making her chuckle before shaking her head. 

"You're cuter." I could feel myself tense up at her words, my face slowly starting to burn. Softly shaking my head, I slowly started to make my way to the door. "You know it's the truth Boscha!" 

"That's still not gonna stop me from saying you're cuter, flower." Sticking out my tongue, I moved towards the front door, resting my hand on the knob. "Message me whenever you get the chance alright?" 

"You know that's probably not gonna happen till after school. Maybe at lunch." Willow folded her arms over her chest, making me shrug. 

"I mean... you could always message me during class~" My voice took on a sly tone, making the plant witch squint. She shook her head, a low sigh pushing past her lips. 

"Yeah, that won't happen." I could hear the cold edge in her voice, which only made me laugh. Then, I shrugged, pulling open her front door before taking a step out. 

"Hey, it was just a suggestion. After all, class can get pretty boring." Willow mouthed something I couldn't understand, a smile slowly rising to her lips. Then, before I left, I blew her a quick kiss. "See you again after I'm done with practice?" 

"Sure. Love you." I could feel my ears twitch, a dopey grin slowly rising up to my lips. There was a minute of silence, then a hint of concern flashed on Willow's face. "You okay?" 

"Totally, just got lost in your eyes for a second there." I said, noticing how she tensed up. "But that's besides the point, I love you too. Now, I've really gotta run." 

Walking out the door, I softly closed it behind me and quickly started heading in the direction of the studio, giving both of Willow's dads a wave as I passed by. I made sure to walk quickly, mumbling under my breath about how I was gonna convince Amity not to kill me. 

By the time I made it halfway to the studio, I felt a buzz from my scroll. With a grimace, I summoned it and glanced at my messages, feeling a bit of relief when I realized it was from Skara. "You coming or what?" Her message read. 

Rolling up my sleeves, I quickly started to type her a message. "Of course I'm coming, what makes you think I wouldn't?" I sent that message, then started to type out another one. "Am doesn't want to kill me yet, right?" 

There was a few moments of silence, then it showed that the sound director was typing. "Nah, Luz has kept her attention long enough that she hasn't noticed you're late." 

I let out a small sigh of relief, fiddling with my rolled up sleeves a bit. "Great. Make sure she stays distracted, I prefer to stay in one piece." And with that, I put away my scroll, picking up my pace. 

Once I made it to the studio, I pushed open the door, hearing the sound of my band mates voices float out. "You see Ed, all you have to do is twist, then bam!" Peering into the main room and finding three of , I watched as Emira quickly twisted her wrist, a small, glass looking ball instantly appearing in her hand. 

"What's the ball do?" Skara asked her, her eyes following the ball as Emira moved it from hand to hand. 

"Pretty sure the best purpose it serves is just being able to throw it at someone." Edric quickly chimed in, her twin quickly glancing over at him before putting on a smirk. 

"Someone like you?" She asked, tightly gripping onto the ball before winding her hand back, making Edric yelp and quickly duck behind Skara to protect himself. The sound director tensed up, looking over her shoulder to glare at the Blight. 

Skara turned back towards Emira, then her eyes slowly trailed over to me, her face lighting up. "Hey Boscha!" She called to me, catching the other's attention. Emira made the ball in her hands disappear, a low sigh coming from her twin at the action. 

"Glad to see you finally showed up." Emira told me as she placed a hand on her hip, making me roll my eyes. 

"It's not like I'm late." I muttered, glancing around the room only to notice that there were two missing. "Where's Am and Luz?" 

Both of Amity's siblings nodded in the direction of the hallway. "They're in their room." A smirk rose up to my lips, but I quickly pushed it down, replacing it with a scoff. 

"Well then, I'll go get them. You guys go get ready so we can get this over with." Skara and Edric quickly nodded, scurrying off in their directions. Emira, however, stayed with a smirk on her face. 

"Got plans after this or something?" She asked me as I headed off towards the hallway, making me shake my head. "Really? So what makes you wanna wrap up practice so fast?" I shrugged, leaning on part of the wall. 

"Faster we get this over with, the faster these pre-show jitters will go away." I could see that Emira was thinking it over, then she nodded her head. 

"Good point." She finally said, heading off in the direction that Skara went off into. I headed off towards the hall, quickly making it to Amity and Luz's room where I found the door cracked open. 

I slowly approached the room, my ears lightly twitching when I heard their voices. "Okay, corniness aside, I still think that Ammy bear is a good nickname for you!" 

"You know I still have no idea what a bear is, right?" Amity's voice asked, followed by a bit of a chuckle. "So, if it's some kind of joke, you're gonna have to explain it." 

"It's not really a joke, it's more like..." Luz trailed off, and I slowly peered into the room. Amity stood in front of her mirror, Luz standing a little ways behind her. I watched as Luz walked closer to the witch, then wrapped her arms around Amity's waist from behind, laying her head on her back. "People just call bears cuddly back on Earth." 

"Are they actually cuddly?" Amity asked her, straightening up a little. Luz let out a little chuckle, a warm smile spreading across her face. 

"Stuffed bears are, but uh, real ones... not so much." Amity let out a laugh, bringing one of her hands back and running it through Luz's hair. "Then again, you could always just hug a really big and fluffy dog, that's like cuddling a bear." 

"Whatever you say." Amity carefully twisted around, resting her arms on Luz's shoulders. Even from where I was standing, I could see a pale blush rising up to the drummer's cheeks, a much darker one finding its way to the main singer's. 

Amity took a step back, almost instantly hitting her desk with the backs of her legs. The two moved a little closer together, the singer's eyes darting down to Luz's lips. Luz suddenly chuckled, making Amity's ears go down. "Y'know, I guess you call me a bear." 

The singer's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, a smile rising to her face. "Why's that?" 

"Well..." She leaned her forehead against Amity's. "Bears like honey, and I think you're just as sweet." Then, she gave Amity a quick kiss on the lips, making the teal haired witch squeak. 

Once Luz pulled away, Amity blinked, then chuckled. "Y'know, if you wanted a kiss you could've just asked." She told Luz, making the girl shrug. 

"Figured it'd be funner doing it this way." The Blight lightly shook her head, leaning in to give Luz another kiss, this time not instantly pulling away. I figured now would be a good time to make my presence known, giving the door a few sharp knocks. 

Instantly, Amity pulled away from Luz with a yelp, smacking into her desk and making the legs drag against the ground with a loud sound. Luz looked dazed, turning towards the door while Amity turned towards her mirror, making sure it wouldn't fall. 

"Alright you two." I pushed the door open, leaning against the frame with a smirk. "Before you guys start making out, can we get this practice started?" Both their blushes deepened, Amity's face going a dark shade of red. 

Luz let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck before moving towards the door, quickly slipping past me. "Boscha's got a point, we need to get started." I watched out of the corner of my eye as Luz slipped off to go gather up her drums.

Amity ran her hands over her face with a groan, also moving towards the door so she could go to the sound room. "Yeesh, and you complained about me being late." I said as she passed, making her freeze in place. 

She slowly looked at me, her eyes holding a dangerous glint that almost made me flinch. "Shut up." Was all she said before she walked down the hall and into the sound room. 

Rolling my eyes, I followed after her, nearly running into her as she left the room. She shot me a glare, one that wasn't as hard as the one previously, before she passed me my bass case, muttering something under her breath. "Thanks." I said, getting no response. 

Following after the witch to the recording room, meeting up with the twins and Skara in the room. Skara and Emira were by the sound board, fiddling with a few dials while Edric was setting up part of the drums, the other part missing. 

Not long after we walked into the room, Luz made her way inside, a few pieces of the drums floating behind her while other parts were in her arms. She shot Amity a smile. "See Amity? Told you I would be able to float stuff!" 

Setting down the pieces in her arms, Luz raised a hand and tried to trace a spell circle in the air, struggling for her first few attempts before she managed to get one to appear. 

Well, once she connected her circle, instead of gently landing on the ground, the pieces that were floating in the air clattered to the ground, making the girl jump. 

All of us went quiet for a moment, then I could hear Edric snort, struggling to suppress his laughter. Luz stared at the pieces on the ground for a moment, then let out a loud sigh. "Well... at least it was only the stands." 

"I told you, don't float anything unless you know how to gently put it down." Amity grumbled, her eyes darting from the floor to Luz. The drummer bent down to pick up the items, then spun around to face the Blight. 

"I do know how to gently put them down, guess I just did it wrong that time." She mumbled, making the teal haired witch roll her eyes. Taking her pieces over towards the rest of her drums, she quickly started setting the last bit of it up. 

Taking my bass out of its case, I plucked a few of the strings, my ears lightly twitching at the tune. "So, what are we gonna start with?" I turned my gaze towards Amity, who was taking her guitar out of its case. 

The youngest Blight stayed quiet for a moment, almost making me think that she didn't hear me the first time. I turned towards her, opening my mouth to speak again when she spoke up. "505. Just because." Was all she said, then she moved over towards Luz, plucking a few strings on her guitar. 

Skara shot Amity a signal, letting her know the sound board was ready while Emira moved over towards her twin, grabbing him by the shoulders and scaring him. I moved over towards the two, standing in my usual spot before looking up. 

"You two ready?" Amity asked us, Luz shooting her an enthusiastic thumbs up while I gave her a simple nod. She gave us a nod in return, then started plucking the first few chords to the song, Luz and I quickly following after. 

We all went through the song, and by the time we were finished with the first run, Edric popped his head in the room. "You sure you aren't out of tune Mittens?" He asked, making her glance down at her guitar. 

"Yes I'm sure." She said simply, pausing for a moment. The two siblings stared at one another, then Amity sighed, plucking a few of her strings and tweaking with the dials. Before Edric left, I could see the smirk that was plastered on his lips, telling me that he was messing with Amity. 

But I wasn't gonna tell her that. 

Instead, I watched as she fiddled with her dials, leaning against the wall as I lightly traced a finger up and down my bass' neck. To the side, I could see Luz twirl her drumsticks for a moment before her face lit up with an idea. 

Setting one of her drumsticks down, she held the other one tightly in her hand, then with her free hand, she traced a spell out in the air. Once it was complete, her drumstick floated in the air, just barely above her eye level. 

Lightly tapping the stick towards her face, she maneuvered it until it looked like she was balancing it on the tip of her nose. I turned my full attention to her, tilting my head slightly as I raised an eyebrow. 

Luz didn't pay me any mind, smiling as she balanced the thin stick my ears twitched as I heard Amity play a short tune, then she sighed. "Alright, this is fine." She turned back around, eyeing Luz up and down, who, once she noticed Amity was looking at her, quickly dropped the stick back into her hand. 

Amity eyed her up and down for a moment, then sighed. "Don't wear yourself out." She told the drummer, who waved off Amity's concern. 

"A few simple spells won't kill me Ammy, don't worry." She gave the other witch a smile, a low chuckle bubbling up from her throat when Amity's ears slowly went down. I just shook my head, turning my gaze down to my bass. 

"Don't jinx yourself." I mumbled, noticing how Amity turned to me. There was a second of silence, then I jolted in pain when I felt a small shock hit my shoulder. Rubbing my shoulder and muttering under my breath, I looked up in the direction the shock came from, being meet with the lead singer glaring at me.

She didn't say anything about it and turned towards Skara, shooting her a thumbs up. "Let's go through the song again." She muttered, rolling her shoulders to relax them. To my right, I could hear Luz pop her fingers, bouncing her free leg up and down. 

After we rolled through 505 a few more times, we moved on to some of our other songs, repeating the process each time. The one song I noticed we never played was the one from our last show. In the back of my head, I questioned it, but figured it was because Luz still didn't know how to play it.

Then again, it wasn't exactly a secret what the song was about, so I wouldn't be surprised if we weren't playing it cause Amity didn't want to confirm what it meant. 

By the third run through of our fourth song, Luz slumped down on her drums with a loud sigh, her drumsticks barely hanging out of her hands. "Can I call a quick break?" She asked, lightly panting.

The youngest Blight glanced back at Luz for a moment, her usual, neutral expression that she wore during practice softening. "Sure. Hey Ed!" I flinched at the sudden raise of her voice, Edric quickly popping his head into the room. "You mind getting us some drinks?" 

"The usual?" He asked back, making his sister nod. Then, he shot us a set of finger guns and a wink. "Alright then!" He disappeared back where he came from, leaving the three of us alone again. 

We were all quiet for a little while, my hand moving down to my thigh to lightly drum my fingers against it. Then I could see Luz sit up and stretch, carefully balancing her drumsticks on part of her drums. "So-" She motioned towards me, catching my attention. "have any plans later?" 

"Just plan on going to hang out with Willow, relax before the show tomorrow." I said, making the drummer nod her head. Amity however, chuckled, softly shaking her head. I glared at her for a moment, carefully folding my arms over my chest. "What?"

"If you do that, you better not stay up all night." She told me, making me roll my eyes. 

"What makes you think I would?" The teal haired witch shrugged, glancing back at the drummer for a moment. "Well hey, at least I'd be better than you two." 

"Whatever you say." She told me, turning her gaze to the door as she waited for her brother. 

"Oh c'mon, you know I'm right. You two would be up talking all night." Amity turned her gaze over to me, giving me a look before the door swung open again, Edric walking in with three drinks in hand. 

"Let's see, this one's Luz's, this one's Boscha's, and of course here's a freezing cold one for you Mittens!" He chirped, passing off the drinks to everyone. Amity stared down at hers for a moment, then back up at her brother. 

"Really?" She mumbled, the annoyance clear in her voice. "Do I look like an idiot to you?" Edric shrugged, then laughed as Amity furrowed her eyebrows together. 

"You need to lighten up a bit Mittens." He said as he gave her a nudge. "I'm worried you're gonna just snap in half with how high strung you are." Edric let out another laugh, hanging in the door frame for a moment. "But that's besides the point, how many more songs do you guys plan to roll through?" 

Luz and I turned to Amity, who only shrugged. "Probably one or two more." She took a sip of her water, staring down at the cup for a moment. "Why do you ask?" 

"Em and I wanted to go out and practice effects, that's why." Then the Blight twin shot us a thumbs up, disappearing from the door frame. "Have fun you three!" He called out to us.

I stared at the door for a moment, then let out a sigh, turning towards the other two. Amity wore her usual poker face, but Luz looked like she was deep in thought as she took a drink from her cup. 

Then, she suddenly shot up, her eyes practically lighting up. "Wait a minute! Random bright idea!" Amity turned towards her, raising an eyebrow. 

"Spill." I said with a smile, folding my arms over my chest. Luz was practically bouncing up and down, the smile on her face growing. She then took a deep breath, calming herself down a bit. 

"Okay, okay, so I know the show is tomorrow..." She paused, both of us nodding our heads. "And I know that normally means we all go our separate ways for the night. But!" 

"But what?" The hesitance in Amity's voice was clear, but the look on her face held a subtle excitement. I slowly drummed my fingers on my upper arm, watching as Luz twirled one of her drumsticks in her hand. 

"But, what if we all decided to go and hang out at the owl house for the night? Like a sleepover! As long as we don't burn down the house Eda wouldn't care." Her drumstick stopped spinning, now lightly tapping against her leg. "It'd be fun!" 

Amity stayed quiet for a moment, clearly thinking it over in her head. I stared at her for a moment, then turned my gaze back to Luz. "I mean, it'd be a lot better than doing nothing." I said with a shrug, seeing the excitement rise on Luz's face. 

"Gathering all of us in one place for the night isn't the greatest idea. That's just a recipe for disaster waiting to happen." Amity finally said, turning her gaze down to the floor. 

Luz's smile dropped and she clasped her hands together, giving Amity a look. "Oh c'mon Ammy!" She pleaded, Amity still staring down at the floor, her face slowly going pink. 

I rolled my eyes, letting out a small chuckle that caught the singer's attention. "Yeah, c'mon Ammy!" I teased, making her snap up to look at me. "It's not like we'd have to get up early for tomorrow's show anyways." 

"Wait, we don't?" Luz asked. 

"Nope. The place we're performing at is only a few miles away from here. And it's a late night show." I said, making the drummer gasp. 

"That doesn't mean we should do it." Amity said, shooting me a glare. "And don't call me that." She mumbled, the last part, her ears moving down slightly. 

"That means we should totally do it!" Luz argued, leaning onto her drums. "Please Ammy?" I could see Amity's expression waver, clearly trying to fight against giving in. 

There was a moment of silence, then Amity finally sighed. "I guess..." She said, making Luz squeal. The drummer shot up out of her seat, quickly rushing over to her and pulling her into a tight hug. 

"You're the best!" Luz gave Amity a kiss on the cheek, making the blush on her face deepening. "I'll go let the other's know!" She quickly made her way to the door, then froze, turning back to me. "Actually, Boscha can you see if Willow and Gus wanna come? The more the merrier!" 

I nodded my head, summoning my scroll in my hand as she left the room, leaving Amity and I alone. Glancing up at the witch for a moment, I couldn't help but chuckle. "Note to self..." I said as I set my cup down on the ground, my voice loud enough to catch her attention. "Amity's a pushover when it comes to Luz." 

"Oh can it." She sharply said, making me laugh a little harder. "It's not like you aren't the same way with Willow." I clicked on Willow's contact, pulling up our messages. 

"Am, I'm being serious. The fact you gave in that fast surprises me. If anyone else asked you that, you would've fought against them till they gave up." Amity didn't say anything in response, making me turn my attention down to my scroll. 

I smiled, quickly typing out a message. "Hey." I sent, making sure to add a bunch of y's at the end, just because I knew it bugged Willow. While I waited for a response, I looked up when Luz walked back into the room. 

"The other's agreed!" She happily chirped, moving over towards Amity. "Also, your siblings are surprised you agreed." Luz slung an arm over Amity's shoulders, but I turned my gaze away from the two of them when my scroll buzzed. 

"Why do you text like that?" Willow's message read, making a smile rise up to my face. 

"Because it's fun~" I sent back, sticking out my tongue. "Anyways, that's besides the point, didn't just want to text you to bug you." 

"So why did you text me?" Her response was almost immediate. 

"Well, Luz was saying something about having the band hang at the owl house for the night and wanted to know if you and Augustus would come." I looked back up at the other two in the room, seeing Luz playfully stick her tongue out at the other only to get lightly shoved away. 

There was a bit of a pause before I got my next response. "Well, you already know that I'm not busy, and I'm sure my dads won't mind since tomorrow is the weekend, so sure, I'll come." She sent a little smiley face after that, making me smile as well. "When I meet up with Gus at lunch I'll ask if he can come too." 

A small snort rose up from me, making the other's look over at me for a moment before becoming distracted again. "And I thought you said you wouldn't text me in class." I teased, waiting for a response. 

While I waited, I looked up at Amity and Luz again, moving my ears up and down out of boredom. By now, the two were just making faces at one another, laughing the entire time. 

When my scroll buzzed again, it made me jump a little, luckily not enough to catch the other's attention. "It's a free period." The fact I could hear the deadpan tone her voice would have made me smile. 

"Whatever you need to tell yourself." I sent in response, another chuckle rising in my throat. "But hey, I'll leave you alone for now. Love you flower." I added a few hearts at the end of my text before hitting send, Willow sending a few hearts in return and making a pale blush rise to my cheeks. 

Clearing my throat, I caught the others attention. "Willow said she'll come, but she's still gotta ask Augustus." I said, Luz excitedly pumping her fists in the air. 

"This is perfect! Now, if they're able to come along, and if the twins can convince Viney and Jerbo to come that'd make..." Luz quickly counted off the amount of people, mumbling the numbers under her breath. "Ten of us!" 

"Are you sure Eda's gonna want all of us there?" Amity asked, making Luz scoff and wave away what she said. 

"Like I said before, as long as we don't bug her all night and as long as we don't burn down the house, Eda's not gonna care!" The drummer leaned against the wall, folding her arms over her chest. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" 

"You should be asking my siblings that." Amity said, her ears twitching slightly. "I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to sneak off to prank something while they're there..." 

"Well, if they try to set anything up on the walls, they'll probably just activate on themselves since the walls are breathing." Luz said, and I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow out of confusion and concern. 

Amity thought about it for a moment, a subtle smile rising to her lips. "Don't tell them that then." She said, making Luz nod her head. Then, she fixed her grip on her guitar, turning to look at me for a moment. "Now, we should probably finish up with practice." 

Luz quickly went back behind her drums and I fixed my grip on my bass, both of us waiting for Amity's command. It wasn't long before the three of us got started again, quickly playing through the last few songs Amity wanted to get through. 

Once we finished with the songs, Edric popped back into the room again, telling us that we did a good job as he went over to help Luz dismantle the drums while Amity and I put our instruments in their cases, taking them to the sound room. 

Taking a quick glance at the time as I headed to the main room, I saw it was just a little after two. Emira and Skara were both already in the main room, the two of them chatting, pausing for a moment when the saw me walk in before saying hi and returning for their conversation. 

I quickly checked my scroll, noticing how I had no notifications. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Luz and Edric walk by with parts of the drum set in their arms, heading towards the front door, which was still closed. 

Raising a hand and drawing out a spell, the door slowly opened, making Edric spin around and give me a smile before spinning back around and walking out the door, Luz following close behind him. 

Amity moved past me and took a seat in the chair by her sister, leaning back in her seat and pulling out her scroll. Not long after, Luz and Edric returned, the Blight nudging her with his elbow a few times. 

"So, what time you want us over?" I asked the drummer, taking her attention off of Edric. She hesitated for a moment, thinking it over before shrugging. 

"Whatever time you wanna come by. I'd say, maybe sometime before eight. After all, don't wanna miss the fun!" Luz suggested, making me nod my head. 

"That works for me." I stretched my arms out in front of me, carefully flexing my wrists. I stood there for a moment instead of taking a seat, looking over at the door, then back to my band members. "I guess I'll see you guys later then." 

"Leaving already?" Skara asked and I slowly nodded my head. 

"What's the occasion?" Emira followed up, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. I shrugged, shoving my hands in my pockets. 

"Just gonna go home and relax, probably nap. That way I can stay up later than all you dorks." I said with a chuckle, noticing how both the twins looked over at one another with a smile before looking back over at me. 

"I mean, you could always just nap here." Emira suggested, her voice holding a slightly mischievous tone. Edric nodded his head, his ears barely moving up and down. 

"And risk having you guys draw on my face or something? Yeah, hard pass." I scoffed, watching both of their expressions fall. Turning around, I gave them all a little salute, pulling open the door. "Peace out." 

They all wished me goodbye before I closed the door behind me, then continued talking with one another. I let out a small sigh as I walked home, glancing at the sky while I walked. 

The sky seemed pretty empty, an occasional griffon traveling by, but that was about it. Even though it was empty, it distracted me long enough that by the time I got home, I was surprised that I made it there so fast. 

Going inside and up to my room, I summoned my scroll, clicking on my messages between Willow and I as I kicked off my shoes. "Hey." I sent, once again using a bunch of y's at the end. "Meet up at my house when you're ready to go alright?" 

I didn't get any response, so I assumed she was still in class. Flopping down on my bed, I made my scroll disappear and took my hair out of its bun, resting my head down on my pillow. 

Closing my eyes, I let myself relax for a little while. Everything went black for a minute or so, then I opened my eyes again when I felt someone lightly shaking my shoulder. 

"Glad to see you're awake sleepyhead." Willow greeted me in a soft voice, running a hand through my hair. I sat up, blinking a few times before looking around. 

"What time is it?" I croaked, looking down at the floor to see the bright light that came in through the window. "It's not that late right?"

"It's only a little after five." I froze for a moment, staring at the witch before I let out a sigh and got out of bed, stretching my arms out in front of me. Moving over towards my closet, I started flipping through my shirts, mumbling under my breath the entire time. 

"I don't even remember if Am specified anything..." Willow laughed, making my ears twitch. "Welp, it's not like this show is like the last one, so it's probably just the usual." 

"Probably. Now hurry up and get your stuff, Gus is downstairs probably wondering what we're doing at this point." I hummed and nodded my head, floating a bag over to me while I grabbed some clothes for tomorrow. 

I snuck another glance at the time, then turned to Willow. "Think anyone else is there yet?" I asked her, taking the hair tie off of my wrist and using it to pull my hair up into a quick ponytail. 

"You mean anyone besides Amity?" She asked back before chuckling, pushing her glasses further up on her face. "Maybe the twins are." I nodded, moving over towards my door with Willow not too far behind me. 

"Well, if everyone else is already there, we can just say that the stars are fashionably late." An idea suddenly came to mind, making me perk up. "And I mean, with a star as bright as you, it makes sense." 

A sound of surprise came from the witch behind me, then a laugh as she gave me a soft shove. "What happened to calling me flower?" She managed to say between laughs, making me shrug. 

"Starflowers are a thing, and they're really pretty, just like you." I winked, watching the blush on her face deepen as her ears lightly flapped up and down. She fixed her glasses and looked down, not saying anything else. 

The two of us went downstairs, where we found Augustus standing by the front door, glancing around the room before he noticed the two of us. "Took you guys long enough!" He smiled, motioning for us to follow him. "Come on, let's go!" 

All three of us left and started to make our way to the owl house, Willow's hand intertwined with mine. Luckily, since the two of them would head to the owl house so often, then knew exactly where to go. 

While we walked, Augustus started rambling on about his illusion classes to fill the silence, talking about one of the new spells he was trying to master. It was interesting to listen to him talk about his first few attempts to do the spell. 

Before we made it out of the end of the woods, Willow froze, making the rest of us stop. "What's up?" I asked, cutting into what Gus was saying. Willow squinted, staring at something ahead of us. 

"What is Hooty doing...?" She mumbled, making me look ahead. Some soft of brown cylinder was jutting out of the door, stretching out a few feet ahead before sharply turning into the ground. 

"The weird cylinder thing?" I asked, motioning towards the house. 

"Well, that's one way to describe him..." Augustus said, also staring at the house. We all stared for a moment longer, then slowly continued to walk towards the house. "Y'know, maybe if we're lucky, we can sneak in without talking to him." 

As if on cue, the tube suddenly pulled up from the ground, revealing an owl face on the end of it. It turned towards us, making me flinch. "Oh I recognize you two! Hoot hoot!" 

Willow and Augustus let out a groan of annoyance as the thing stretched over towards us. "Hello Hooty." They both mumbled as the owl tube wrapped around us, squeezing the three of us together. 

"I haven't seen you guys in forever!" The tube said in an obnoxious voice before he got close to my face. "But I don't think I've seen you around here before..." He told me, squinting his dark eyes. 

"Never seen you before either." I muttered, trying to free my arms. "What even are you?" The owl suddenly loosened up, letting the three of us go. 

"No wait-" Willow held a hand out, trying to stop the tube from talking. 

"I'm so glad you asked!" Hooty happily said, and both Willow and Augustus slump down. But, before he got started on his spiel, he suddenly jerked over, letting out a sound of pain. 

"Hooty? What are you doing?" A high pitched voice asked, clearly annoyed with the tube owl. "What kind of bug are you trying to torture by talking to now?" 

Walking out the door, a familiar tiny demon peeked over at the four of us, making the owl spin turn around to face him. "Not a bug!" Then, the owl shrunk back over towards him, letting the demon look at us. 

"Oh, Luz's other friends." He said, just barely loud for us to hear. Then, he motioned us to come over, walking back inside the house. The tube owl stretched inside of the house instead of coming back, and after a couple of seconds, we all quickly headed towards the house. 

Poking our heads into the door, we found that the rest of the band was already there, hanging out in the living room. Skara was sitting on the arm of the couch by Viney and Emira, with Edric and Jerbo on the other side of the couch. Amity sat on the floor by Luz, who lit up when she noticed the three of us. 

"And the last of the party finally arrives!" She said excitedly, motioning for the three of us to come in. The door closed loudly behind us once we all made it inside, making all of us jump. "Glad to see you could make it!" 

I shook my head, then smiled. "Well duh, we had to be fashionably late." I told her, noticing how Amity rolled her eyes. 

"More like you overslept." Willow muttered as she set her bag down on the ground, Augustus and I doing the same. Then she gently grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me forwards, taking a seat down by Luz and pulling me down to do the same. 

"Remind me what we planned on doing again?" Edric piped up, his eyes following Augustus as he moved over by him and took a seat. "Unless we're all gonna chat all night." 

"I mean, unless you guys wanna play some cheesy game of truth or dare, we can do the cliche of binging a bunch of movies or something." Luz leaned back on the palm of her hand, the Blight twins lighting up at the idea of a game. 

"If we're playing a game of truth or dare, I'm staying out of it." Amity mumbled, dragging her knees up to her chest. 

"Oh come on Mittens, lighten up a little." Emira gave her sister a slight shove. "It'd be fun!" 

"Not with you two." The youngest Blight turned to glare at her sister, only to get lightly shoved by her brother. "Knowing my luck, you'd dare one of us to do something stupid." 

"Nah, we wouldn't make you do anything too bad." Edric leaned back, resting his head on his fist. "At the worst, we'd probably dare you to go talk to the door for ten minutes." Amity instantly shivered, her ears pinned down. 

"That's exactly what I mean." She growled, her eyes staring at the door for a minute, then down to the floor. From around the corner, I could hear the sound of steps creaking, catching my attention. 

Not long after, the owl lady appeared, dressed in a white button up and some jeans, running a hand through her hair. She froze when she saw all of us, blinking a few times before letting out a sigh. "Yeesh there are a lot of you..." 

"Yep!" Luz quipped, lightly rocking back and forth. "But hey don't worry! We aren't going to be too crazy, you'll probably barely know that we're here." 

"I don't care what you do, cause I'm not gonna be here anyways. I've got a night out on the town!" The owl lady flipped up the collar of her shirt, barely sticking out her tongue. "This doesn't look too flashy for the human realm right? I'd prefer to keep on the down low and kinda just snagged whatever was lying around."

Luz paused for a moment, her eyebrows bunching together. "You're... going to the human realm?" There was a bit of a laugh in her voice as she shook her head. "Why?" 

She shrugged, her ears twitching. "Why not? It'd be better than sitting here with you dorks for the night, at least you'd actually dare to do something when I'm gone. Besides, I can go snag some treasures for the stand while I'm out." 

"They'd still dare to do something if you stayed." Amity motioned to her siblings, making me snicker. 

"I know they would." She said, reaching into her pocket before pulling out a key and giving it a tap, a door summoning in front of her. "Anyways, nobody die while I'm gone, stay out of trouble, and if you do get into trouble, don't lead the guards here."

Suddenly, Luz jumped up, making me flinch in surprise. "Wait!" She ran over towards the door, quickly walking through it. 

"Where are you going?" Amity asked, making Luz pop her head back in the door frame. 

"Grabbing some movies! It'll be fun!" She then disappeared again, the owl lady rolling her eyes before following after her, the door closing up behind them with a few loud thunks, leaving the rest of us here. 

"Human movies? I wonder what kind..." Augustus trailed off, silently counting off the different types on his fingers and his eyes glittering in excitement. Edric shrugged, slightly leaning against Jerbo.

"Whatever it is, let's hope it's better than Em's movie choices." He let out a laugh, earning himself a shove from his twin. "I'm serious! When Mittens has a better movie taste than you, it's sad." 

"Ed, isn't most of your favorite movies rom-coms? You have no room to talk." Viney asked him with a smirk. 

"Hey wait, rom-coms are good movies!" Skara said, making the beastkeeper look over at her like she was crazy.

"See? She gets it! And besides, the movies I choose are the good kinds! Em always chooses the movies that were thrown together in a night." He said, running a hand through his bangs. 

"Because they're so bad that they're funny!" Emira told him, folding her arms. "At least mine don't have stupidly corny lines in them." 

"I guarantee you we'd be here all night if I listed off all the movies you like to watch that have the bad corny lines in them." He said as he stuck his tongue out at his twin, making her do the same. 

"How bout we just both agree that your guy's movie tastes suck? It'd be better than listening to you bicker." I said, tensing up when I felt Willow lean on my shoulder. "Besides, we all know that action movies are better." 

"It all depends on the kind of action though." Viney piped up, fiddling with her earring, Jerbo nodding in agreement. Then, to our right, we heard another set of loud thunks, catching our attention. The door that disappeared a few minutes ago came back, then opened. 

Luz stepped through the blinding light, walking backwards with an assortment of items in her hands. "And remember! You can't just light anyone on fire!" 

"Alright alright, you don't have to pester me over it! Have fun with your friends." The owl lady called from the other side. 

"You have fun too!" The door closed behind her and folded up before disappearing. Luz turned around, giving all of us a bright smile. "I'm back! And I brought some movies and some snacks!" 

"Sweet!" Edric jumped up, rushing over to the drummer to see what she got. Amity rolled her eyes, drawing out a spell and dragging him back to the couch. 

"Yeah, I had no idea what kind of movies to grab, so I kinda just closed my eyes and picked at random." She told us with a laugh, setting down a small handful of cases. "While I go find where Eda put that T.V. she stole from the trash and get some blankets for all of us, you guys can look these over and choose whatever one's the most interesting." 

Augustus spread out the few cases, letting us look them get a good look at their covers. The others got off the couch and stood up, glancing down at the covers with puzzled expressions. 

"Human movies are weird..." Emira muttered after a bit with a chuckle, picking up one of the cases. "Hey Gus, any chance you know what a lion is?" She then passed him the case, letting him look it over. 

"Pretty sure it's just a bigger cat in the human realm." He said after a minute, flipping the case over to read the back. Skara took the case from his hand, gushing about how cute the creatures on the front looked. Then, Luz walked back into the room, wheeling in a decent sized box that was covered in blankets and snacks. 

"Anything catch your guy's eye?" She asked, pushing the box towards the center of the room. Jerbo bent down and picked up another case, flipping it over before shrugging. 

"What about this one?" Luz glanced at the case, tensing up a little when she read the title. 

"I forgot I grabbed that one..." She muttered, then put on a smile. "Letting you know now, that one's a horror movie." Viney suddenly perked up, pulling the case from her friend's hands. 

"A horror movie?" She asked excitedly, her ears flapping up and down. Augustus appeared by her side, his eyes just as bright as her's. 

"A human horror movie? That'd be so cool!" Willow moved back over to my side, glancing at the bottom of the case before shuddering. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to me. "Can we watch it?" 

Everyone looked at one another, then shrugged. "Well then, we'll start off with this one!" Luz took the case from Viney's hands, brushing the blankets off the box before opening the case and taking out a small silver disk, sticking it in a slot on the box. "Hey Hooty? Can you cut the lights?" 

The lights suddenly went out, and in the darkness there came the sound of a pencil scribbling on a piece of paper. Then, a ball of light floated up by Luz, going into the air. She gently guided it in our direction, then continued to scribble out more. "After all, if it's a spooky movie, we need a spooky setting!" 

I watched as she scribbled out more spells, then chuckled. "I'm surprised you aren't using spell circles to do magic." I said, making her pause and look over at me before shrugging. 

"Doing spell circle magic is cool, but honestly I think I like doing the glyphs a lot more. It's a lot less draining that way and besides, they don't take as long." She said, quickly getting out three more spells before putting her notebook away. 

Then, she bent down and tossed us all blankets and snacks, and once we got our blanket Willow was quick to drape it over us, leaning her head on my shoulder. 

Augustus moved over to Willow's side with his own blanket, wrapping himself in it. Viney snuggled up against Emira, and Jerbo and Edric shared a blanket, the illusionist leaning his head on the other's shoulder. Skara stayed on her arm of the chair, tightly wrapping herself up, leaving only her head poking out.

Luz grabbed a small controller, quickly moving over to Amity side before plopping down and hitting a few buttons, starting the movie. "Wanna bet Ed's gonna scream first?" Emira said as we waited for the movie to start. 

"Nah, I bet Mittens will scream first." He said, his mouth already full of snacks. Amity didn't say anything in response, rather, she just scooted a little closer to Luz. The tiny demon from before trotted into the room, looking at all of us with a curious glance. 

"What are you guys doing?" He asked, slowly moving closer. 

"Heya King! We're watching a movie. Wanna join?" Luz asked him, making the demon hesitate. "We even have snacks." 

"You've sold me." King said, quickly moving over by Luz and flopping onto her lap, reaching into her bag of human candy before popping a few of the pieces in his mouth. "This better not be some sappy movie." 

The movie successfully managed to make most of us scream, the first one coming from Jerbo. By the time we were halfway through the movie Willow and I clung to one another, shaking as we worried over when the next jump scare would be, using the blanket to shield our eyes. 

But, once the movie was over, the scares weren't. That's only because Edric had the bright idea to make an illusion of the haunted doll from the movie, not only making us scream even louder than before, but it also made Amity whirl around and punch him in the gut when he placed a hand on her shoulder to apologize. 

I placed a hand over my racing heart, feeling it thud against my fingers as I tried to catch my breath. Willow was squeezing me tightly, muttering how the movie wasn't real under her breath. 

"That wasn't that bad..." Edric managed to say, still lying on the floor clutching his stomach. 

"Says the one that screamed the loudest." I said, hearing how shaky my voice sounded. He sat up, wincing a little. 

"You aren't any better." He told me, wearing his signature smirk. "Clinging to Willow like your life depended on it, using the blanket to hide." His eyes moved away from us, then widened a little. "Uh... you alright over there buddy?" 

Willow and I both looked at each other, then turned to look at Augustus. He sat there wrapped up in his blanket, shaking like a leaf as he stared at the floor, his face pale. 

"Never again..." Was all he squeaked out, making Willow let go of me and move over to comfort him.

"Now what?" Amity finally stammered out, clutching the blanket tightly around her. Luz pried her hands off of Amity and reached over with a shaky hand to the other movie cases, fumbling before she grabbed one. 

"How bout a Disney movie? It's way calmer than that last movie, so it'll calm our nerves. Probably..." Willow nodded her head, giving Augustus' shoulder a squeeze. King poked his head out from under the blanket, shaking the entire time.

Luz was quick to put in that movie, hitting play before moving back over to Amity, who instantly wrapped her arms back around Luz. Edric quickly scrambled to get back up by Jerbo before the movie started, making me laugh when he nearly tripped. 

Like Luz said, this movie was a lot calmer than the last, letting all of us relax and forget about the scares from earlier, though they still lingered in the back of my mind. 

This movie seemed to move by a lot quicker than the first one, probably because this one wasn't as stressful than the last. Even though I had no idea what half of the creatures were in the movie, I still found it pretty interesting. 

Once the credits started playing, Luz stretched her arms over her head, letting out a small groan. "What time is it?" She asked, glancing over at the youngest Blight, who summoned her scroll to check the time. 

"Twenty after ten." She responded, making the drummer nod her head. 

"Alrighty then." Luz then clasped her hands together. "So, we can either go to bed now, or we can watch another movie. What do you guys wanna do?" I shrugged, watching as Amity stood up, lightly rolling her shoulders. 

"I say we go to bed. We've got a show tomorrow." Both of her siblings let out a groan, making her turn around to face them. 

"Oh come on Mittens, why kill the fun now? One more movie wouldn't hurt." Emira said, giving her a light nudge. 

"Yeah, come on sis. It wouldn't be that late by the time we finished it." Edric chimed in, also giving his sister a nudge. 

"It'd be around midnight by the time we finished the movie, that's late." Amity said, a cold edge lining her voice. "And if you two knew what was good for you, you'd go to bed now." 

Edric was about to chime in again, but stopped when Jerbo placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's got a point. Besides, I'm tired anyways." He said, lightly shrugging his shoulders. The illusionist stared at him for a moment, then sighed, turning back towards his younger sister. 

"Fine. Guess we won't watch another movie." He mumbled, a look of surprise flashing across his twins face for a moment. 

"Wow Ed." She gave him a rough shove, making him yelp. "Didn't even try to put up a fight there. That's just sad." Skara let out a chuckle, only making the twin roll his eyes.

"So hitting the hay it is!" Luz said, running a hand through her hair. "You four okay with crashing down here in the living room for tonight?" They all nodded their heads. "Great! Cause honestly, there's not enough room in my room for all of us, and Eda would probably kill whoever slept in her nest." 

"She has a nest?" Emira questioned, a hint of concern laced in her voice. Luz only nodded her head, then started to go towards the stairs, motioning for the rest of us to follow her.

We all followed after her, including the demon, still clinging onto our blankets as we dragged them upstairs. "Hopefully, you guys don't mind sleeping on the floor, cause I'm pretty sure my mattress won't fit all of us." 

Skara shrugged, pulling her hair out of it's ponytail. "That's fine by me." The rest of us muttered in agreement, slowly approaching Luz's room. 

"Awesome! Now, I'm gonna snag a quick pair of pajamas and go change in the bathroom, one of you guys can change in my room, then we can kinda just alternate." She said before pushing open her door. 

Luz moved into the room and picked up a shirt and a pair of shorts, then moved back over towards the door. "Also, whoever changes in here, make sure the curtains are pulled over the window. Hooty has terrible timing some days." 

Then, she disappeared, leaving the rest of us standing by the door. Skara was the first to enter her room, shutting the door behind her as she changed. It wasn't long before she came back out in a simple grey tank top and sweatpants. 

We all took turns going into the room and quickly changing till all of us were in some pajamas, then we all went to relax in Luz's room. Luz and Amity took the small mattress with King lying towards the bottom, Willow and I took the spot to the right of the mattress and Gus took the spot to the left, while Skara stayed by the window. 

"Are you sure you wanna sleep by the window?" Luz asked, reaching out for the silver haired witch. "It might get cold later tonight." 

Skara simply shrugged, turning her gaze towards the window. "I get a good view of the stars, so I say it's worth it." She had a soft smile on her face as she leaned her head against the wall. 

"Alright..." I could hear the hesitation in her voice. "But hey, if you ever do get cold, you can always move down here." Skara nodded, turning to give the drummer a toothy smile. "Anyone else need anything? More pillows or something?" 

"Nope." I muttered, lying flat on my back, staring at the ceiling. Willow took of her glasses and gently set them on the ground, close enough to the wall so no one would accidentally step on them in the night, before she laid down, resting her head on my shoulder and pulling the blanket up over us. 

"Comfortable?" She asked me, making me nod my head as she wrapped her arms around my waist, nuzzling a little closer to my neck. 

"Night guys!" Luz chirped, laying down with Amity. 

"Night." The rest of us chimed in at different times, settling down for the night. Turning my head, I saw that Augustus was still sitting up, drawing out a spell circle and making a small notebook and pencil appear in front of him. He quickly scribbled something down, then made the notebook disappear before he laid down. 

Then, I turned my gaze towards the ceiling, not closing my eyes. Around me, I could hear the sound of the other's soft breathing, each of them slowly drifting off to sleep while I stayed awake. 

After who knows how long, I started to mentally kick myself, wanting to fall asleep but couldn't. Around me, I could hear the sounds of soft snoring coming from a few of them and the occasional sound of someone moving, which were the only sounds that cut through the silence. 

"Great idea napping for three hours, now Am's gonna kill you in the morning." I mumbled out loud, making sure to keep my voice just below a whisper. Willow shifted, making me shut my mouth, afraid of waking her. 

Her arms slid away from my waist as she turned on her other side, leaving my side feeling cold, but I didn't complain. By now, I figured that instead of waiting for my body to feel tired, I'd just close my eyes and wait for sleep to take me. 

I flipped over on my side, slipping one of my hands under the pillow. Keeping my eyes closed for a bit, I was convinced that it was going to work. That is, till I heard a sudden, choked gasp, then the sound of someone sitting up. 

Barely opening my eyes, I noticed that Luz was the one sitting up, her breathing erratic, though she tried to silence it by having a hand clasped over her mouth. 

The pale moonlight that poked through the window didn't give me much light to see what was going on, but my eyes were adjusted enough to get enough details. With her free hand, she ran it through her hair before slowly trailing it down to her neck, then to her side, hovering over a specific spot for a moment. 

Her head then snapped over it Amity's direction, giving me a partial view of her face, which was glistening with tears. I almost sat up, concern flowing through my veins. I could see the drummer's shoulders shake, hovering a hand over Amity's shoulder before sharply pulling it away. 

She looked around the rest of the room, taking the hand away from her mouth and bringing both of them to the sides of her head. "I need to get out of here." Was all I heard her say in a broken voice before she quickly got up, nearly tripping over the demon that laid at her feet before darting out the door, closing it behind her. 

Once she was gone, I sat up, staring at the door for a moment before turning towards Amity, who was still asleep. Carefully moving over towards her, I gave her a few rough shoves, making her groggily sit up and look around. 

"Wha?" She mumbled rubbing her eyes, blinking a few times before looking at me. "What do you want?" 

"Well your girlfriend just took off, looked like she was crying." That made Amity wake up pretty quickly, her head turning towards the door. She quickly got up, stumbling a little before heading towards the door. 

I waited a couple of moments after the two of them left, then I sighed, getting up myself. Creeping across the floor, the floorboards were surprisingly quiet as I slipped out the door. 

Down the hallway, I could see a bit of light peeking out from under a door, telling me that's where Luz and Amity were. I stared for a moment, then turned and headed towards the stairs. 

Going downstairs, my ears twitched at how loud the stairs creaked in the silence. Once I made it downstairs, I decided to poke my head into the living room, just to see if everyone else was already asleep. 

I found that they were, with one illusionist snuggled up against the beastkeeper's chest, and the other illusionist surprisingly laying against the abomination witch's chest, making me raise an eyebrow. 

Staring at the four for a moment, I shook my head and disappeared back around the corner, heading towards the kitchen. Once I found it, I moved over to the cupboard and pulled one open, finding a cup. 

Taking the cup, I filled it up with a bit of water, then made my way back upstairs, heading towards the room with the light on. The soft sound of Luz and Amity's voices floated out once I got close enough to the door. 

"And he was there and had the thing and there was you-" Luz's shaky voice froze up, Amity quickly filling in the silence with words of comfort, telling her to take her time. Instead of listening in on this conversation, I gave the door a few soft knocks before pushing it open. 

There, I found both of them sitting on the floor side by side, but with enough space between them so that they weren't touching. Luz jumped when she saw me out of the corner of her eye, making her breathing hitch for a moment. "Hey." I said, softly, Luz quickly wiping her eyes, even though her tears were quickly replaced. 

"Hey." Amity mumbled back, Luz staying quiet, her knees pulled tightly against her chest. She didn't look up at me, rather, she continued to stare at the ground, her breathing quick, almost as if she was trying to close herself off and shrink away. Not that I blamed her for trying to.

"Clearly I know you don't want me to stay long, so here's this." I set the cup down on the counter, running a hand through my hair. "Figured you'd want it." Luz glanced up at the cup for a minute, then back down to the ground. 

She opened her mouth to say something, but froze up and ended up saying nothing at all. I back out of the doorway, taking a hold of the handle in my hand. "I'll leave you guys alone." I said, softly closing the door. 

I waited for a moment, hearing Amity's voice start up again after the door closed. Then, turning on my heel, I gave the two of them the privacy they needed, heading off towards Luz's room to join the others. 

Worry gripped at my mind, making me silently wonder what woke the drummer up, knowing it wasn't from the movie earlier. I opened the door to the room and crept back inside, moving back over by Willow and laying down. 

Laying down on my side again, I stared at the now empty mattress for a moment, then closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before letting myself relax. 

By the time I almost drifted off, I could hear the door open again, the sound of footsteps walking into the room. They moved over towards the mattress, then laid down. 

There was the occasional sniffle and a hiccup, but no words were spoken between the two. I barely opened one of my eyes, watching as Luz snuggled up against Amity, holding her tightly as the Blight draped a blanket over them before she started to lightly pet the drummer's hair. 

I said nothing, closing my eye again, waiting to drift off to sleep, hoping that all of us would have enough energy for tomorrow's show.


	34. Show stopping performance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me disappearing again for two weeks, nah not me what are you talking about? 
> 
> Anyways, how bout a long chapter to make up for it?

Luz POV: 

Amity's body shifted with a low groan, making me barely open my eyes. She moved until she was lying on her other side, her back now facing me. Squinting, I took a quick glance around the room without moving my head, noting that it had to be early in the morning. 

A yawn pushed up from my body and I ended it by barely pressing my forehead against Amity's back, completely aware of the tiredness that still clung to my body. It was quiet in the rest of the room, save from the breathing and the few soft snores from everyone else, along with the occasional mumble from King while he slept. 

I closed my eyes again, still pressing my head against Amity. Even though I was pressed up against the warm witch, I felt cold. It always happened after I woke up from that nightmare, which was still clawing at the back of my mind. My eyebrows slowly bunched together, and taking in a deep, shaky breath, I took one of my arms away from Amity. 

Reaching down to my side, I tapped a few spots, relief sweeping over me when I couldn't feel any kind of sticky feeling covering the palm of my hand. I wrapped my arm back around Amity's waist, also glad that I couldn't feel anything on her sides either. 

Maybe if I was lucky, I could fall back asleep and make up for the bit of time I missed last night. After all, there was a show tonight, I needed to be awake. I tugged Amity a little closer to me, my eyes snapping open when I heard her wake up with a soft snort, bringing her hands up to her face. 

She stretched her arms out, then froze up when she realized I was pressing against her back. "Luz?" Her husky voice quietly called out, testing to see if I was awake since she couldn't see me. I let out a hum in response, feeling her quickly relax in my arms. 

I moved my head back a little, and after a moment, Amity carefully flipped onto her other side so that she was facing me, her arm wrapping around me. I rested my head in the crook of her neck, feeling the witch let out a shiver when my breath hit her skin.

"How was the rest of your sleep?" She asked me, bringing her other hand up to run her fingers through my hair. I shrugged, giving her another squeeze in response. 

"I feel like it didn't last long enough." I let out a half hearted chuckle, which shifted into another yawn. "Sorry about waking you up, I know you probably wanted as much sleep as possible considering there's a show tonight." My voice dropped to a volume barely above a whisper, guilt starting to seep through my veins. 

"Don't apologize." She told me, her tone soft yet firm. "It's okay, and besides, you didn't wake me in the first place, Boscha did." 

"Oh..." I mumbled, leaning a little more into Amity's touch. The two of us went quiet for a moment, then I could feel the witch shift a little, almost making me pull away. However, she pulled me closer to her, still running her fingers through my hair. 

"Do those nightmares happen often?" Amity asked, breaking the silence and making me tense up. 

I let out a bit of a nervous chuckle, resting my head against her shoulder a little more. "I mean, I wouldn't say they happen all the time... but yeah..." I scrunched my eyes shut, giving the witch another squeeze that made her squeak. "Normally though, it's just me and him... last night was different."

My voice was soft, making me wonder if Amity picked up what I just said. She stayed quiet for a moment. "And what do you usually do when those happen?" 

I stayed quiet for a moment, then spoke again. "Sit and wait it out... somehow draw out some light spells to calm down." Amity's motions paused for a moment, then she continued. "I really don't like bugging Eda or King when it happens since it's so late, so I normally just deal with it on my own." 

The two of us went quiet again, and if it weren't for the witch still running her fingers through my hair I would've thought she fell back asleep. "You wanna sleep in a little longer?" Her question appeared out of the blue. 

A low chuckle rose from my throat. "You're actually giving me an offer to sleep in on a show night?" Amity nodded her head, making a small smile find its way onto my face. "Well, as much as I love your offer, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to decline." I couldn't help but put on a fake accent, making the youngest Blight laugh. "I'm already awake, so trying to fall asleep again would be pointless."

Slowly pulling my arms away from the Blight, I propped myself up on my elbows for a moment, then sat up, Amity copying my actions. I stared at her for a minute, noticing how her ears twitched when a few strands of her messy hair ran over the tips. 

Looking around the rest of the room, everyone else was still asleep. Skara was propped up on the wall by my window, her blanket slowly sliding off of her shoulders. Gus was sprawled out on the floor in a heap, one arm under his head and the other somewhere under his blanket, which was only covering about half of his body. King looked like he was tangled up in my blanket, but he was still sound asleep. Willow and Boscha were snuggled up against one another, Boscha resting her head on Willow's shoulder, their legs intertwined. 

Turning my gaze back to the only other person awake in the room, I smiled, catching her attention. "You look pretty with bedhead, you know that?" I said after a minute, making the witch's ears lightly start to flap. 

She gave me a soft shove, a flitter of chuckles rising up from the two of us. "So do you." She told me, reaching out and running her fingers through my bangs. I shrugged, reaching up and gently taking a hold of her wrist.

"That's because it looks fluffy." I said, watching as her golden eyes darted back up to my hair for a moment. "Am I wrong?" I teased, making the witch shake her head, her eyebrows slowly bunching together as a confused expression crossed her face. 

"Is something burning?" She asked me after a moment, her nose scrunching up. 

I shrugged, taking her hand in mine. "Well I mean, the light from the window is casting a perfect halo over your head right now, making you look like an angel from heaven, so maybe it's the smoke coming out of my ears from my brain frying at your beauty." I gave her a toothy smile, but paused when I got no reaction.

"No Luz I'm serious, I can smell smoke." I felt her give my hand a squeeze, the subtle hint of panic hidden in her eyes. I sniffed the air, my eyes widening when I realized she was right. We both turned and looked at the door, then back at each other before quickly getting up and rushing to the door. 

Once I opened the door, I could hear the sound of two panicked, but hushed voices. Amity and I bounded downstairs, quickly turning into the kitchen. There, we found Edric and Viney, the illusionist holding a pan with something burning inside far away from his body while the beastkeeper stood off to the side. 

"How did you manage to burn it?" Viney panicked, Edric just shrugging his shoulders before letting put a yelp when something jumped in the pan due to the heat. I took a step back, almost hiding behind Amity, grimacing at their volume.

"I don't know! I turned away for three seconds to get a drink when suddenly whoosh! It's on fire!" He argued, drawing a small spell to hopefully put out the fire, which only made it grow a little larger. 

"Dude that stuff is near impossible to burn, how?" It wasn't hard to hear the exasperated tone in the beastkeeper's voice. Clearly, the two hadn't noticed us yet, and we didn't make our presence known even though we were just standing in the doorway. 

"Look, I'm no cook the only thing I know how to legitimately cook up is a good beat on the drums! What made you look at me and think that I could actually cook?" Edric's voice rose a bit, then he motioned to a bowl on the counter, which was somehow bubbling despite having no heat source. "And how do you manage to pull that off? You literally just had to mix the stuff together!" 

Viney threw her hands up in the air. "Does it look like I'm any better of a cook than you?" She asked him, but only got another yelp in response. Amity and I turned to one another, blinking a few times before turning back to the chaos in front of us. 

"Uh, guys-" I started, only to get cut off by the window opening, the sudden action making the two other witches scream and making me flinch. Then, Hooty slowly stretched his head inside, his eyes closed but his beak somehow smiling. 

"Morning hoot hoot! What're you two-" Hooty paused before he nearly shoved his head in the flames, his eyes widening in alarm. Then, he let out a scream as he tried to quickly pull himself back out the window. "Fire!" He yelled, his head getting stuck for a moment before he managed to get out.

"What did you two do?" Amity folded her arms over her chest, managing to catch the two witch's attention. They both wore a look of panic, which only increased when they recognized us. 

"Oh! Hi Mittens! Hi Luz!" Edric said, flinching a little when the flames crackled again. "What are you two doing up this early?" The witch let out a nervous laugh, only making his sister scowl. 

"That doesn't answer the question. And good gods just use your magic to put out the fire." She motioned towards the pan. Edric and Viney turned their gazes back to the pan, then to each other. 

"I already tried that! It didn't work!" He told her, then jumped back when the window threw itself open again. 

Hooty quickly shoved his head in the window, his eyes still wide and his cheeks puffed out. He turned towards Edric, and before any of us could say anything, Hooty squirted out a stream of water like a hose, not only drenching Edric in the water, but also successfully putting out the fire. 

"Where else is the fire?" Hooty asked, quickly looking around the kitchen. Edric shook his head a few times, sending water across the room and making Amity take a step back. 

The Blight twin spat out a bit of water. "Nowhere now." He said, holding his arms out slightly, which dripped more water onto the floor. "Thanks Hooty." The Blight smiled at the tube owl, but to me it looked forced. The owl let out a sigh of relief, then pulled his head back out the window again.

"Luckily, that wasn't a grease fire." I muttered, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Amity was rubbing her temples. Edric set his pan down on the counter, shaking his arms a few times to try and get some of the water off. 

"Again, what did you two do?" Amity asked, her eyes slowly moving down to the bowl. Without saying anything, she drew out a spell and whatever was inside the bowl disappeared. 

"We were making breakfast?" Viney said with a shrug, followed with a quick dying chuckle. 

"So tell me why you trusted him to help you cook?" Amity motioned towards her brother. "You had every other option in this house and you trusted him the most?" 

"He was the only other one up!" The beastkeeper said, earning a groan from the youngest Blight. She took a few steps closer to the two witches, drawing out a spell that instantly dried off her brother. "Besides, he's the only one that knows what Emira likes for breakfast anyways." 

Amity froze, then turned towards the witch, who's face was now dusted with a pale pink. She didn't say anything, rather, she just shook her head and turned towards the other witch in the room. "So what were you trying to do? Cause I know that what she was trying to make doesn't need that." Amity motioned towards the pan. 

Edric shrugged, reaching up to ruffle Amity's hair. "Figured I'd make breakfast for everyone else." He seemed to hesitate with the last part of his answer, but I shrugged it off. 

The youngest Blight made her way back over to me, mumbling under her breath the entire time. "Of course the only two people up who try to cook can't..." I bit the inside of my cheek, muffling the laugh that wanted to come up. 

"Why is Hooty telling me about a fire?" A voice asked from the top of the stairs, making me turn around. At the top of the stairs was Eda, still wearing the shirt she had on last night, this time with the sleeves rolled down along with a pair of sweatpants and slippers. "If it has to do with lighting a guard on fire you guys better have a good explanation as to why they were here in the first place." 

"Morning Eda." I gave her a small wave as she came down the stairs, watching as her golden eyes scanned across the kitchen. She raised an eyebrow, turning her gaze towards me. 

"Where's the rest of you?" Eda paused, pulling at the collar of her shirt. Amity motioned upstairs while Viney motioned towards the living room. My mentor stared at the two of them for a moment, then shrugged. "Eh, that answer works for me." 

"Sorry about making him wake you up owl lady." Viney chuckled a little, running a hand through her hair. "We were just trying to make breakfast and things got a little out of hand-" 

"First off, just call me Eda. Second, at least now that tells me Hooty hasn't gone completely crazy yet." Eda cut off the beastkeeper as she pushed up her sleeves, moving into the kitchen before going to the cooler. 

She pulled out one of her bottles of apple blood and popped off the cork, taking a quick sip. Her eyes moved from the pan, to the now empty bowl, then to the four of us. "So how was the human realm?" Edric asked, leaning on part of the counter. 

Eda shrugged. "It was tame, at least compared to here. The spot I was at definitely wasn't as flashy as that Vegas place, but I guess it was alright." Then Eda let out a snort. "You know, one of the highlights of the night was when I went and raided that flower shop." 

I tilted my head in confusion, staring at the silver haired witch. "Why did you decide to steal from a flower shop?" I questioned, honestly more surprised at the fact that she didn't try to steal from somewhere else. 

"To get some red flowers. Duh." Eda took another swig of her drink. "What else would I be trying to get?" 

"What did you need flowers for?" I asked, noticing how she seemed to tense up a bit. Then she let out another chuckle, softly shaking her head. 

"Don't worry about it." She told me, finishing off the last bit of her drink before making the bottle disappear. Fixing her sleeves, she turned to Edric and Viney, placing her hands on her hips. "Now, before I watch the two of you burn down my kitchen, what is it that you two are trying to make?" 

"You're gonna help us?" There was a hint of enthusiasm in Edric's voice, making Eda smirk before ruffling his hair. 

"I'd say it's more like, guiding you along. I'm not gonna be the one getting my hands dirty." She said, picking up the pan before looking over what used to be inside it. "Geez, you really cremated whatever this used to be, didn't you?" 

While Edric explained some kind of food, I moved a little closer to Amity, slowly reaching out before taking her hand, making her tense up before she turned around to face me. "Wanna head back upstairs?" 

She looked back at the kitchen for a minute, then back to me before giving me a nod, the two of us heading back upstairs. Carefully pushing open the door to my room, we found that everyone else was still asleep. 

With a low sigh I moved back over to my mattress, carefully stepping over the pile of blankets that vaguely resembled King, never letting go of Amity's hand. We both sat side by side, neither of us saying a word, letting the silence hang in the air. 

I glanced at the witch by my side, who was simply staring down at her hands, before I let out a sigh. Leaning my head onto her shoulder, I could feel her jolt at the sudden contact. "Sure is quiet for a show day, huh?" I asked, lightly jabbing her side. 

"If you call waking up to my brother nearly burning down the kitchen quiet, then sure." Amity replied, making me chuckle. 

"Honestly, would you be surprised if I said that wasn't the most chaotic thing I've woken up to?" I could see her think about it for a moment, then she shook her head. I let out a chuckle, though it was short lived. Then, we both went quiet again. 

Looking at the bottom of the mattress, I watched as King rolled over, his snout now barely poking out of the blanket. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Amity moved her hand, slowly bringing it behind her before wrapping it around my side. 

Even though contact from Amity was usually soothing, this time I couldn't but suck in a sharp breath. Her hand was lightly resting on my side, right above where my injury was, and though it didn't hurt, that didn't stop my mind from running a million miles a minute. 

A chill traveled up my spine as my throat tightened. Amity didn't say a word, and the deafening silence, was slowly being taken over by my heart starting to pound in my ears. Looking down at my hands, I could see them start to shake, making me clench them into tight fists over my legs. Opening my mouth to speak, noticing how dry my mouth seemed. "Amity-" 

I could barely hear her hum in response, her sound quickly getting replaced when I felt her hand move, making me take in another sharp inhale of air. I tried to take a deep breath, which only became a shaky wheeze. 

"Move." Was all I said to her, and even though I didn't look up at the witch, I could see her tilt her head in my direction. "Your hand." My voice rose in pitch, but it remained a whisper. 

Her golden eyes glanced down at where her hand was placed, then her ears went down before she quickly pulled away, as if I burned her. Her hands balled into fists as she pressed her arms tightly against her chest. "I didn't realize-" I took in another deep breath, trying to clear my head. "Luz I'm sorry."

I shook my head a few times, then finally turned to face the witch. Guilt was clearly etched in her eyes, her hands lightly shaking. "It's fine Ammy, I'm fine, don't worry." My words sounded strained as I gave her a weak smile. The witch opened her mouth to say something, anything, but it looked like the words were stuck in her throat. 

My hands were still tight fists against my legs, and though my mind was still running rampant, I could tell that it starting to slowly calm down. After all, it was only Amity. She wouldn't hurt me, I'd be okay. Everyone here at the owl house would be okay. I just needed to calm down.

Though, I wished I could calm down a little faster. 

Turning away from the witch, my eyes focused down to my hands again, seeing that my knuckles were starting to turn white. I loosened my grip, bringing my hands up to rub my arms, feeling the goosebumps lining my skin. 

Silence hung in the air once again, and taking another deep breath that was steadier than the last as I closed my eyes, I leaned over towards Amity until I was resting my head on her shoulder. I could feel her go ridged, her hands suddenly moving down to the floor. 

"I'm sorry." Amity said in a small voice, but I only shook my head. 

"It's fine." I didn't want to say much, and I think Amity knew that. We both went quiet again, neither of us moving from our spots. By now, I could feel my head clearing up, the thoughts slowly creeping to the back of my mind. I loosened up a little, moving my arms down by my sides, brushing my fingers against Amity's hand, which instantly recoiled away at my touch. 

Moving my hand closer to her's again, I gently placed my hand on top of her's, tracing out small circles over her knuckles, this time she didn't pull away. A few minutes passed, then behind us, I could hear someone shift, letting out a small grunt. 

I looked back, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Skara stretching her arms over her head, rolling her neck a few times before looking around. She smacked her lips, then blinked a few times to clear her vision. "Morning you two!" She called to the two of us in a husky voice, giving us a little wave. 

"Morning." Amity said back in a flat voice that I don't think Skara picked up on. I didn't say anything, rather, I gave the sound director a little wave. She looked around, noting that the others were still asleep. 

"Are we the only ones up?" She asked, but I shook my head before motioning towards the door. 

"Edric, Viney and Eda are downstairs making breakfast." I could see the sound director perk up a little, rubbing her eyes before slowly standing up. I heard more shuffling sounds, this time from in front of us, and looking forward, I saw King pop his head out of the blanket. 

"Eda's making breakfast?" It wasn't hard to hear the disbelief in his voice. "Did you check to make sure there wasn't some kind of parasite on the back of her neck controlling her?" He struggled to untangle his limbs from the blanket, finally managing to pull himself out before shivering and going back in. 

"She's just making sure my brother doesn't burn down her kitchen." Amity told him, her eyes following Skara as she moved over towards King. The sound director bent down and gave King a few pats on the head before turning to the two of us. 

"So should we wake everyone else up?" I looked around at the other three that were still asleep, then turned to look at Amity before shrugging my shoulders. King freed himself from his blanket once again, and with a mischievous sounding laugh, he bounded over towards Boscha and Willow. 

Before I could stop him, he hit both of their faces with his paws. "Bap!" They didn't move, making King move over a little before hitting them again. "Come on! Get up!" 

"King, watch out for Willow's glasses!" I said, taking his attention off the both of them. He took a couple of steps back. 

"Glasses? Where?" He went to take another step back, which he would've stepped on if they weren't quickly floated up to Skara's hand. She held them carefully, trying to not smudge the lenses. 

"These glasses." King looked up at Skara, his eyes widening a bit before he looked behind him. Then, he let out a bit of a chuckle, rubbing his arm. But, he was quick to move back over to Willow and Boscha, once again hitting them in the face. 

"Five more minutes..." I could hear Boscha mumble, nuzzling a little more into Willow's neck. However that response earned her another tap on the face. 

"No! The King of demons demands you to get up!" He reached over to Willow and hit her cheek again, making the witch snap up and making Boscha groan because of the sudden movements. 

"I'm up!" The plant witch looked around, sounding a little startled, though I couldn't blame her. Squinting, she fumbled to grab her glasses before Skara reached down and offered them to her. Willow took them from her and put them on, blinking a few times. 

Boscha sat up as well, shooting King a not so subtle glare before running her hands through her hair. That seemed to satisfy King, cause he quickly scampered over to Gus, doing the exact same thing. 

Gus woke up with a yelp. "I'm not letting a doll steal my soul!" He said as he pushed King away, scooting back a bit while he held up one hand to defend himself. 

"Who are you calling a doll?" King's eyes slanted downwards before he started going on about how he was the King of demons, Gus staring at him with a confused look. 

The three eyed witch glanced over at Amity and I, and there was a flash of emotion in her eyes before she let out another groan, flopping back down. "What time is it?" She mumbled, bringing both of her arms up to cover her eyes. "It feels early." 

Skara glanced towards the window, squinting her eyes for a moment before looking back down at Boscha. "Looks like it's about eight or so." An annoyed sigh came from the three eyed witch before she rolled on her side. 

"Yep, early. There may be a show later, but I'm going back to bed." I could see Willow roll her eyes as she placed a hand on the witch's shoulder. 

"Boscha just get up." Amity said, making the pink haired witch sigh. "Besides, there's breakfast downstairs." 

"Fine." The three eyed witch dragged out the word, slowly sitting back up before pushing herself onto her feet. Then, she offered a hand to Willow, and once she took it, she helped the witch up. 

"Wonder what they're making..." Skara trailed off, going to run her fingers through her hair before it got caught in the tangles. The sound director winced, trying to pull her fingers the rest of the way through. "Oh gods this is gonna be a mess to brush out." 

"Sucker." Boscha chuckled, making the silver haired witch glare before raising a hand up. 

"You know, I can do the exact same thing to you." She threatened, barely drawing out the start of a spell. Boscha chuckled a little louder, raising one of her own hands and also starting a spell. 

"You wouldn't dare." A dark look filled Boscha's eyes, but it quickly went away when Willow tugged on her shoulder, pulling her back slightly. 

"It's too early for a fight. Let's just go get some food." Boscha moved forward again, raising her hand but not drawing out a spell this time. 

"Oh come on, this isn't a fight, it's just a conversation. Ain't that right?" Skara chuckled, drawing out a little more of her spell. Willow looked between the two of them, then rolled her eyes before picking Boscha up in one swift movement and putting her over her shoulder, making the witch yelp. "Willow!" 

"Alright c'mon." Willow said as she adjusted her grip on the witch and headed towards the door, motioning for Skara to go ahead of her. She turned to look at the two of us. "Are you two coming?" 

"Just give us a second and we'll be down." I gave the witch a small smile. Willow's eyebrows raised, but she didn't say anything else and left the room, closing the door behind her. "Hope you don't mind sitting here a minute longer." 

"Not at all." There was a moment of silence that hung in the air. "Are you sure you're okay?" Worry and a hint of guilt was laced in her voice. I scooted a little closer to her, moving my head more onto her shoulder. 

"I promise you, I'm okay. It's not like you meant it." I took my head off her shoulder and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, watching as her cheeks quickly took on a light shade of red. "Now, wanna head downstairs before someone comes up and accuses us of doing something?" 

Amity went to give me a response, but was cut off by the sound of my phone buzzing. I looked over to my left, quickly grabbing the device while Amity stood up. It was a couple of messages from my mom, one of them had a photo. 

"Morning cariño! Look at these flowers I got!" Then, there was a photo of her in a beige sweater standing by the window, where an assortment of red flowers rested in a vase on the window sill. I could feel the smile growing on my face. 

Then something dawned on me. 

"Hold on, did she...? Oh my gosh wait-" 

"Luz are you coming?" I took my eyes off my phone, looking up at Amity, who stood by the door. I gave her a nod, then quickly typed out a message about how nice the flowers looked before I stood up and headed downstairs with the youngest Blight. 

By the time we were downstairs, everyone else was already awake. Almost everyone already had a plate of food, minus Viney and Edric. "Took you two long enough." Eda said with a smirk, her arms folded as she leaned on the counter. "Thought for a second you both went back to sleep." 

"Nope!" I chuckled, grabbing two plates and passing one over to Amity. Edric quickly dished both of us up some of the breakfast they made, and from the looks of it, it looked like it'd be something like french toast, just without the syrup. 

Moving over by my mentor, I leaned against the counter and cut myself a small bite of the food, quickly popping it into my mouth. It didn't taste bad, it almost reminded me of a mix of a few fruits back on earth, mostly strawberries. 

"So Mittens, what time we gonna go to the studio?" Edric set his pan down after dishing himself some of the food, moving over to his twin before leaning on her shoulder. "I mean, y'know, might be a good idea to fill the rest of your band mates in on that. Just a suggestion." 

"We can leave in an hour, at least everyone will be up by then." Amity glanced over at her sister, who looked like she was about to pass out. Her brother nodded his head, then continued to stuff his face with his breakfast. 

Keeping my gaze on Amity for a little longer, I slowly turned towards Eda. "So, what'd you need those flowers back in the human realm for?" I asked, seeing her classic smirk rise to her lips. She ruffled my hair. 

"Nothing too important, wanted to see if they'd work for a spell." I stared at her eyes, seeing the smallest hint of emotion that I couldn't read. "Why do you wanna know?" 

"Just curious is all." I muttered, taking my gaze off of Eda and back to the rest of the group, taking another bite of my breakfast. 

Everyone wrapped up eating breakfast pretty quick before going to the living room to hang out, chatting about the show tonight. Edric and Emira were rambling about some of the effects they planned to do, the rest of us nodding along. 

Time flew by, and eventually everyone who was in the band were dressed in their outfits, Boscha in a white tank top and dark jeans, a black jacket currently thrown over her shoulder. Edric, Emira and Skara all wore full black outfits, and Amity was dressed in a short sleeved grey shirt and black pants, and I wore a black shirt that had a skull decal on the back and some bleached jeans along with my beanie. 

Not long after that, we were all out the door. "See ya Eda! Bye king! I'll be back later tonight!" I told them as I walked out the door with the others. 

"You better be!" King said as I left, making me chuckle. Shutting the door behind me, I found that Hooty had a pair of headphones on, jamming out to some kind of music. For a moment, I almost considered asking him what he was listening to, but then I decided to leave him alone. 

We all walked together for a little while, Viney and Jerbo being the first two to branch away from the group. They left saying how they'd see us at the show later tonight. Then, by the time we were almost to the studio, Willow and Gus left as well, telling us they'd be watching the concert at Willow's house with a bunch of snacks. 

Once everyone left, Boscha turned to the Blight twins, a smirk on her face. "So Eddy boy, you and Jerbo huh?" She placed a hand under her chin, mimicking their signature pose. 

Edric tensed up, his ears going down. "Huh?" He questioned, making the three eyed witch laugh. She moved over towards him, making Emira fall back a few steps before moving by Amity's side. Amity, Skara and I watched from the side as they brought their voices down. We all turned to look at each other, then shrugged. 

Arriving at the studio, Edric immediately threw himself in a bean bag chair with a sigh. "And now, we wait!" He said, sinking into his chair a bit more. 

"We could go practice songs you know." Amity stood over him with her arms folded, making the Blight shake his head. 

"Yeah, but do you really wanna drag out all of our instruments?" He asked, waiting for a response. When he didn't get one, he smiled. "That's what I thought. Just take it easy for a bit Mittens." 

Emira gave her sister a soft shove, taking a seat at the table. "Yeah Mittens, it's not like it'll kill you to relax before a show." Then the Blight twin turned to the sound director with a smirk on her face. "Speaking of relaxing, Skara! How bout a Hexes Hold'em rematch?" 

Boscha scoffed, summoning her scroll in her hands. "You call playing Hexes Hold'em relaxing?" 

"Yes I do. Sorry you don't find it relaxing cause you always lose." Emira taunted as she summoned a deck of cards, making Boscha scowl. Putting away her scroll Boscha pulled up a seat next to Skara. 

"Oh you're on. I'll play against the winner." Edric moved his seat a little closer, a bright smile on his face as his eyes followed the cards while they were being handed out. 

"You guys wanna bet on who's gonna win?" He motioned towards the two of us, making me shake my head. 

"I think you already know what my answer is Ed." Amity mumbled, turning before heading towards the hallway. "I'll be in my room doing makeup." She told us, then disappeared around the corner. I looked between the hallway, then back to the table. 

"Gonna stay and watch?" Emira looked up from her cards, raising an eyebrow at me. I glanced back over to the hallway again, then lightly shook my head. 

"I'll come back out later. You guys have fun though!" I gave them a little wave before making my way down the hallway, going to mine and Amity's room. Giving the door a few soft knocks before pushing it open, I found Amity sitting in front of her mirror, already putting on her eyeliner. 

"Hi Luz." She greeted me, not taking her eyes off the mirror. I smiled, slowly moving behind her as she brought the small makeup brush back up to her eye, carefully drawing out the wing. 

"Looks good so far." I moved a little closer, making sure not to accidentally nudge her chair. "Then again, you look good with anything." Her ears slowly went down, a pale blush spreading to the tips of her ears. 

"Don't make me mess up." She said, her voice waving slightly. When I started to laugh, she turned around to face me. "Seriously, don't." 

"Ah don't worry, I don't plan to. After all, you'd probably stab me in the eye with that brush when you're doing my makeup as payback." I said with a wave of my hand, moving over to the cot before taking a seat on the edge. 

Amity gave me a deadpan look before she turned back to the mirror, finishing the last bit of her wing. "You know I'd never do that." She moved on to her other eye, her ears twitching. 

I stayed quiet while she finished her makeup, lightly bouncing my leg up and down the entire time. While she waited for the wing to dry, she turned back around to face me. 

"So, you want me to do yours?" She asked me, lightly fanning her face. I nodded my head, bringing a hand up to my face, running my fingers through my bangs. 

"You know what you're doing when it comes to that. Plus, your hand is a lot steadier than mine." I chuckled, watching as Amity rolled her eyes. Then, she stood up, slowly walking over to me, making me look up at her. 

She let out a low sigh, then carefully sat down on my lap with her legs to one side, dipping the makeup brush back in the tube. "Alright, now don't move." 

"Wait!" I held a hand up, making the youngest Blight freeze in place. Then, placing my hand on her shoulder, I gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Okay now you can continue!" I chirped, watching as the witch sputtered, her face going a dark shade of red. 

"You-" She cut herself off with a low squeak, bringing one of her hands up her ear, which was starting to flap. "You can't just-" I gave her a wide smile, making her hide her face in her hands. "Luz!" She dragged out my name, making me laugh. 

"Sorry, couldn't resist." I shrugged, then clasped my hands together. "But you can continue, I won't move." She gave me a soft glare, her face still red. Then, she let out a little huff, taking the makeup brush out of the tube and moving a little closer. 

We didn't say anything while she did my makeup, and I made sure not to move so that she wouldn't mess up. By the time she was almost done with the first wing, there was a faint knock at the door.

The sudden sound made Amity jerk the brush away, letting out a little sigh in relief when she realized she didn't mess anything up. "Come in!" She called out, turning towards the door. The door slowly opened, revealing Boscha standing in the doorway.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, staring at the position the two of us were in before she shook her head. "Skara wants to know when we should start packing stuff up." Boscha jabbed a thumb towards the main room, mumbling something about how she was still facing off against Emira in a game. 

"Probably in a few hours." Amity turned her attention back to me, motioning for me to look up. I did as she asked, and she carefully started applying my makeup again. 

"Alright." I could see Boscha lean on the doorway for a moment, then there was a pause. "Hey Luz?" Amity paused, letting me look down to face the three eyed witch. 

"Yeah?" Now fully looking at the witch, I noticed how stiff her posture seemed. Something flashed in her eyes, and she opened her mouth to speak before closing it and shaking her head. 

"Nevermind." She mumbled, folding her arms before letting out a chuckle. "So, should I ask why you two are in that position?" Amity tensed up, then slowly turned her head towards the bassist. 

"Should I give you an answer?" She asked back, making Boscha chuckle again, pushing herself off the doorway and slowly starting to leave. 

"Whatever, I guess that means I can just assume you two were kissing before I walked in." Boscha teased as she walked away, her statement making a blush rise to my cheeks. 

"You know I was just doing her makeup!" Amity called after her, her voice slightly higher than before. Boscha's laugh echoed off the hallway walls as she walked away. Mumbling under her breath, Amity drew out a spell that closed the door, then turned her gaze back to me. 

Her face was scrunched up in irritation, which was quick to soften when her eyes met mine. Then, she shook her head before finishing off the last wing. She leaned back a little when she was done, squinting for a moment before giving me a small nod. "There." 

She got off my lap, then moved over to her desk to put away her makeup. I started to fan my face, trying not to move so that I wouldn't mess anything up. Amity pulled her hair out of its usual ponytail, then fixed it, messing with it for a few times before she was satisfied with it.

"C'mon say something interesting!" Both of us froze up, then slowly turned towards the muffled voice that came from behind the door. Amity and I turned to one another, then back to the door before Amity drew a spell, making the door swing open. 

There, both leaning where the door used to be, was Edric kneeling on the floor and Emira standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder, their eyes wide. They both side glanced us for a moment, then Edric cleared his throat and stood up, Emira nudging him in the ribs. 

"Really you two?" Amity growled, giving her siblings a glare that would probably strike them dead. 

Edric turned to his twin, then shoved her forward into the room before taking off towards the main room. "Blame Em!" He called out behind him, making Emira spin around in confusion. 

"Hey wait! You were the one eavesdropping on them first!" Emira quickly said, tearing off after her brother. From somewhere in the main room, I could hear Boscha and Skara dying with laughter. 

Amity let out an annoyed sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose before heading towards the door. "So help me gods, I will kill them..." The witch paused for a moment, then motioned for me to follow her before leaving the room. I quickly got up and went after her, meeting up with the rest of the band in the main room. 

The other's were watching Boscha and Skara play a game of Hexes Hold'em, the twins keeping their distance from their sister. We all hung out in the main room, playing games and chatting to pass the time. 

After awhile, the twins both challenged me to a game, just to see how well I could play. About halfway through a round with Edric, Boscha pushed herself off the wall and headed towards the sound room. "We should probably get ready to go." She told us, making Edric perk up.

"We're leaving already?" He placed his cards face down on the table, raising an eyebrow at the bassist. Barley sticking out my tongue, I placed a few cards down, making the Blight jump slightly when they sprung to life. 

The youngest Blight pulled out her scroll, glancing at the time before nodding her head. "Boscha's right. Wrap up your game." As if commanded, the game spat put some flames, declaring Edric as the winner. 

"Well wasn't that convenient?" Edric laughed, tapping his hand against the table. I let out a low groan, lightly throwing the rest of my cards against the table before leaning back in my chair. Edric pushed his chair back, then got up, rolling his wrists and popping them a few times. "Welp, let's go pack up the drums." 

I nodded my head, also pushing myself put of my seat and following Edric towards the door to go to the spare storage. He made sure to prop the spare storage's door open so that it would be easier to move the drum set to the cart. 

Edric looked around the storage room, squinting his eyes before sighing. "It's always really hard to see in here." I could hear him say before walking forward, barely holding one of his hands out in front of him before he made it to the drums. 

Staring at him for a moment, I shook my head and jogged over by him, taking a few pieces of the drums before heading towards the door. I went up to the cart, carefully setting the drum pieces down on the ground, hearing Edric's footsteps behind me. 

"If you want, I'll strap this stuff down while you get the rest of the pieces." He said as he set his pieces down next to mine, and I gave him a nod in response before heading back into the storage room. A few trips later and the whole drum set was now in the cart, and the rest of the band was putting their stuff in the cart as well. 

Skara appeared in the cart with a clipboard, silently counting off the things in the cart before turning to Edric. "We're still missing a few speakers." He nodded his head, then went back inside to go get some more speakers. 

I followed him back inside, finding Boscha and Emira chatting by the table. Walking past the two of them, I managed to catch a snippet of their conversation. "So we're probably gonna mess with the flame effect a little. Maybe make them purple if Mittens allows it." Emira told the bassist with a little chuckle. 

"It'd match the bands colors." I heard Boscha say with a chuckle as I passed, pulling open the door to the sound room and leaning in the doorway. My eyes scanned the room for a moment, then I spotted my drumsticks lying on the table. Quickly snagging them, I rolled them over in my hands for a moment before leaving the room. 

By now, Boscha and Emira were heading towards the front door, still talking about the effects. A sudden tap on my shoulder made me jump, only to find that it was Amity. "You have your sticks?" She asked me, and I gave her a smile before twirling my sticks in my hands. "Great, let's go." 

The two of us went outside, finding the others standing outside the cart. "And that should be good!" Skara chirped, turning over towards the two of us. "Oh! And Amity's guitar!" She jogged over to the two of us and took the guitar case from Amity's hand, then put it in the cart. 

"And now, we've just gotta go on a nice, slow drive to the stadium, ain't that right Mittens?" Edric said as he walked over towards his younger sister, leaning on her shoulder. 

"What do you mean by a slow drive?" She shoved her brother off, but he only leaned back on her shoulder again with a laugh. 

"Come on, there's no point in getting there right away. We've still got some time left, so let's use a bit of it up!" Emira walked over towards us, leaning on her sister's other shoulder. 

"Yeah, let's use up a bit of time. It's not like Ed and I have much to set up effects wise, and you guys don't have much to set up either. Don't be a buzzkill." Amity rolled her eyes, lightly shoving both of them away before walking over towards the cart. 

"She needs to unwind a little." Edric said with a chuckle, also heading towards the cart. "You hear that? If you stay that wound up, you're gonna snap before the show!" He called out to his sister, who only shot him a glare from over his shoulder. 

Emira gave me a light tap on the shoulder, making me walk towards the cart. Going into our usual spots, I found Boscha and Skara sitting next to one another on one side of the cart, both of them on their scrolls while Amity sat across from them, lightly bouncing her leg up and down as she stared at the ceiling. 

When I walked in, they all looked up, Amity smiling when she realized who I was. I moved over and took a seat by Amity before leaning my head on her shoulder. She hesitated for a moment, then slowly wrapped her arm around my shoulder. 

Soon enough, the cart lurched forward and we were on the move. I slowly twirled one of my drumsticks in my hand, making sure that it wouldn't accidentally fly out of my hands. Boscha and Skara stayed on their scrolls, but suddenly Boscha looked up with a laugh. 

"Hey Am? Did Edric and Emira fill you in about the last stadium?" She asked in between chuckles, making me raise an eyebrow. Amity tilted her head slightly, giving the three eyed witch a confused look. 

"No, they haven't." There was a bit of hesitation in her voice, but Boscha didn't pay it any mind and started chuckling again. 

"Well, turns out, they set off almost all the traps that we put out." Amity sat up a little more, and looking up at her face, I could see the subtle hint of panic in her eyes. Boscha had to see it too, because she quickly added. "They're convinced the stadium got invested with some kind of vengeful spirits or something." 

I could feel Amity give a soft sigh in relief, leaning back onto her seat a little more. "Let's keep it that way." She muttered, I placed my hand over hers, giving it a light squeeze. 

"As long as we don't bring it up when we get to the stadium, we should be fine." Boscha looked back down at her scroll, her eyes darting left to right as she read something.

"Why's that?" Skara asked, glancing at whatever Boscha was reading for a moment before looking back up at the pink haired witch. 

"Cause the guy who owns that stadium also owns this one." Boscha stated, not looking up from her scroll. "At least, I'm pretty sure it's him. It's got the same contact info as the last stadium." 

The rest of our slow ride was filled with silence and random chatter, coming up with some kind of topic to talk about so that we wouldn't be bored. A bit of time later, the cart lurched again, then there were a few loud knocks from the front. 

I got off of Amity's shoulder, standing up before offering her a hand. She took it and stood up, stretching her legs a little before heading to the cart door. Filing out, we found the twins already taking stuff from the cart and inside the stadium, both of them chatting away. 

Getting to the back of the cart, I picked up one of the speakers and slowly jogged in the direction the twins went, following them inside. This stadium was pretty big, and it had a bunch of chairs lined in rows. 

The stage was also pretty big, with a set of stairs on the side. Going up the steps, I headed to the spot the twins were standing, setting down the speaker in my arms by their stuff. "Think she'd kill us if we did that?" 

"Only one way to find out." Edric said, spinning on his heel and heading towards the stairs, Emira and I following after him. "It's not like it's a giant change so I doubt it."

"Still, it's Mittens." Emira said, giving me a bit of a nudge. "And you know how she gets." Her twin nodded his head, making his way down the steps before turning around and walking backwards. 

"As long as it doesn't throw her off, I doubt she'll kill us." His eyes suddenly lit up, a smile finding its way to his face. "Y'know, maybe we should also do a soft breeze, make the flames seem a bit more realistic." 

"We should probably test that first to make sure there's no feedback on the mics." The three of us made it back outside, moving out of the other's way as they walked past us with a bunch of the band equipment. "What do you think Luz?" 

"About Amity killing you or whatever effect you guys are changing?" I asked back, making the two of them look at each other, then back to me. 

"Both." Edric said as he went into the back of the cart, picking up a few of the drum stands before walking out. Emira and I walked in, picking up the last bit of the equipment before walking out. 

"Well, with Amity, if it's something small, I doubt she'd be really mad at you guys. And if you guys think it'd look cool, I'd do it." They both smiled, then nodded their heads, the three of us quickly walking inside the stadium again. 

Moving over to our pile of stuff, I found Skara and Boscha already setting up speakers and the mics and Amity taking both her's and Boscha's guitars and moving them out of the way, manuvering around some oddly placed barrels to get things where they needed to be. 

Edric and Emira both gave a confused look at the barrels, turning to each other before they both drew out a spell, moving the barrels back. Once they felt they were in a good spot, they cancelled their spells. "Mittens!" Edric caught his sister's attention before she walked away, making her turn around to face him. "Where do you want the drums?" 

She scanned the stage for a moment, then placed down one of the guitar cases before drawing out a spell, a glowing X appearing a few feet away from the two of us. 

"Alright!" He headed over towards the spot, and after picking up a few pieces of the drums, I followed after him. The two of us were quick to set up the drums, making sure that everything was put in place correctly before heading towards where the rest of the band was. 

By now, Skara was at the sound board and Boscha was testing the mics, making sure all of them were connected and working correctly. I slowly walked over towards Skara, watching as she fiddled with a few of the dials before I felt a few taps on my shoulder, making me turn around. 

It was Amity, and before I could say a word, she gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me in a different direction, taking me to a different part backstage. "Woah there, what's the rush?" I joked, watching as she looked around. 

When she realized no one else was here, she let out a little sigh. "Sorry for dragging you off like that, I kinda just..." She trailed off, rubbing her arm as her gaze turned to the side. 

I let out a little snort, placing my hands under my chin. "Aw, did you miss me?" I teased, seeing her cheeks go a shade of pink. Her ears twitched, then she let out another sigh. 

Slowly bringing her hands up to my face, she gently cupped my cheeks, taking me a little by surprise. The witch took a step closer to me, her face going a shade deeper as she gently stroked my cheek with her thumb. 

She froze for a moment, the gears turning in her head before she leaned in and kissed me. Heat rose to my cheeks as I froze up, then slowly brought my hands up to overlap hers, closing my eyes. We stayed like that for a moment longer, then she pulled away. 

"Mostly, I just wanted to do that without my siblings being around." She mumbled, I blinked a few times before slowly nodding my head. "And I figured it'd be better to do that now rather than later."

"Am! Where'd you set my bass?" Boscha called out, making the witch let out a yelp. The bassist appeared, her hands shoved in her pockets. "Figured I might as well make sure it's tuned." 

"It's just over there." She pointed towards the right, making Boscha nod, giving Amity a quick thanks before grabbing her case and heading off. Then, Amity gave me a soft nudge. "Anyways, you can go do whatever you were gonna do." 

I let out a little chuckle, placing a hand on her shoulder before giving her another quick kiss. "I mean, I could stay a little longer." I winked, making Amity laugh before giving me another shove. "Unless you've got some super secret singer stuff you have to do that I can't see." 

"If you wanna stick around while I make sure my guitar is tuned, then sure." She slowly started to walk away, and I followed after her, the two of us walking side by side. "And what kind of secret singer stuff do you think I would have to do?" 

Shrugging, the two of us snagged her guitar, then went to a different part backstage, getting comfortable before striking up another conversation. I don't know how long we were there for, but what I do know was that we were there long after she got her guitar tuned. 

The faint sound of a muffled voice caught my attention after awhile, making me look up. "Where are-" Edric appeared, his face lighting up when he saw the two of us. "There you two are! Geez I've been looking for you forever!" 

"Guess that means you weren't looking hard enough." Amity told him, running her fingers through some of her hair that was down. "Y'know, maybe you should take that as a sign to wear your glasses a little more." 

Edric sucked in a breath, his lips forming a thin line. "Mittens, as much as I lover bickering with you, we've got twenty minutes till the show starts." That made both of us tense up, turning to one another before back to him. 

"Twenty minutes?" We both said at the same time, making him nod his head. The two of us sat there for a moment, then Edric motioned for the two of us to get up. 

"Well c'mon you slowpokes! We don't have all day!" Both of us quickly scrambled to our feet, Amity letting her guitar hang from her shoulder. The two of us brushed past the Blight, and when she passed him, Edric gave Amity a soft shove. "And you have the nerve to call me a procrastinator."

"That's because you are one." Her hands moved up to grab the neck of her guitar, making sure it wouldn't fall. The three of us traveled to where the rest of the band was, finding all of them talking by the sound board. 

"If I push this up like so..." Skara mumbled as she stuck out her tongue, gently pushing one of the sliders upward. She didn't push it up very far before feedback came back from the microphones, making everyone wince. "But everything would be too quiet if that doesn't go up."

"So do this." Emira reached over, flipping a switch before turning a few dials. "Try it now." Skara pushed up the slider again, this time receiving no feedback. They both looked up at the three of us, Emira's eyes lighting up. "Hey you found them!" 

"Not like you needed a search party to find us. We were literally just over there." Amity jabbed her thumb behind her, making her older sister roll her eyes. 

"Doing what?" The Blight twin let out a small chuckle. "Getting a few good luck kisses before the show?" Both her siblings busted up in laughter, making Amity's face slowly go red. 

"Guitar tuning." Amity growled, glaring at both of her siblings. "I was tuning my guitar." Both of the twins looked at one another, then continued to laugh. "Don't you two have something better to laugh at?" 

They both shook their heads, still laughing the entire time. Boscha stayed off to the side, plucking a string on her bass and making her ears twitch. "Someone wanna tell me what's the point of these barrels?" She asked, nodding towards the few barrels.

Edric and Emira both were starting to calm down, looking towards the barrels before shrugging. "Found a bunch of cords inside them." Edric started, wiping his eyes. "Guess it's a weird way of storing their stuff." 

"Pretty inconvenient if you ask me." Skara said, leaning slightly on the sound board. 

"Easy way to tangle cords." Amity mumbled, the rest of us nodding our heads. 

I shrugged my shoulders. "Hey, it's not our problem." Everyone else hummed in agreement. Turning towards the curtains, I realized that I could hear the murmur from the crowd, slowly growing in volume. "Is everything set?" 

"Should be." Emira glanced around for a moment, then she turned towards me again. "You do have your sticks right?" I pat myself up and down for a moment, realizing I didn't have them. 

Amity raised an eyebrow at my actions, then slowly started walking towards where we were earlier. "You probably left them over here. Come on."

"Right!" I jogged to keep up with the witch, letting out a nervous laugh while rubbing the back of my neck. Going back to our spot, I found my drumsticks resting on the floor. Picking them up, I spun around to face Amity again, who was already walking away. "Ammy wait!" 

The witch paused in her footsteps, turning around to give me a look. I quickly bounded over to her, then pulled her in for a quick kiss. "A bit of good luck before the show!" I chirped, shooting her a wink. Amity stood frozen in place, her face slowly getting redder by the second. 

She blinked a few times, then let out a dreamy sounding sigh, softly shaking her head. "Dork." I heard her mumble, making me lightly punch her shoulder. 

"Your dork." I told her with a laugh, watching the smile on her face grow. "Now! We've got a show to put on!" Jogging over towards where the rest of the band was standing, I nearly tripped over my own feet, but managed to stop myself from crashing to the ground, holding my arms out in front of me for a moment before standing up and clearing my throat. 

"Everything's set up, nothing's out of place, we just gotta wait for you guys to get in your spots." Emira listed off, making Boscha nod. "Though, we do still have a bit of time to kill..."

"Not much." Boscha mumbled, her grip shifting on the neck of her bass. She turned to the two of us, eyeing us up and down for a moment. "You two ready?" I gave her two thumbs up while Amity just nodded her head. 

"Ready as we'll ever be!" I chirped, twirling my drumsticks in my hands a few times before nearly dropping them. "What about you?" 

Boscha scoffed, giving me a smirk. "What makes you think I wouldn't be ready?" She asked, turning her head to the side before she looked at me. 

"Well if you guys are so ready, you should probably get in your spots." Edric told us with a chuckle, motioning towards the rest of the stage. We all looked at each other, then slowly started walking to the stage. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edric turn around. "Alright guys, we're on in five! Get ready!" 

Scooting a little closer to Amity, I gave her a soft nudge. "We aren't doing some kind of special opening right?" She shook her head in response. "Okay, just double checking." Amity let out a laugh, softly shaking her head. 

I moved behind my drums, lightly tapping my foot up and down while I waited. My hands were lightly shaking, not enough to make me look nervous, but enough to make it look noticeable. I couldn't help but glance at the other's, who were tapping their fingers against their instruments. 

The spotlights suddenly went out, casting the stage in darkness. Even though I could barely see, I watched as the curtains pulled themselves to the sides, allowing more light to flow through, showing the sea of witches in front of us. 

What once was a mumble quickly spiked into a roar when they noticed the curtains moved. Even in the pale light, I could see the smirk that rose to the bassist's lips, her feet shifting for a moment before a bright spotlight flicked on. 

Another spotlight flicked on seconds after that, both of them focusing on me and Boscha, making me squint for a moment before staring out into the crowd, which was only getting louder. A smile found it's way to my face that I didn't even bother to suppress, and I gave a small wave to the crowd, hearing them get louder. 

There was maybe a few more seconds until the last spotlight turned on, focusing itself onto Amity, who was looking down at the stage. She slowly looked up, a sharp smirk on her face as she slowly approached the mic. 

Carefully taking it in her hands, she brought it closer to her face. "Bonesborough, what a pleasure it is to be here tonight." The crowd lit up in more cheers and whistles, making the smile on Amity's face grow. "How is everyone tonight?" 

Loud whistles broke out in the crowd, sounding so clear I was almost convinced they were right next to me. Amity waited for a moment, and once the whistles and whoops died down a bit, she spoke again. "Sounds like everyone's excited. Now, how bout we kick this show into gear?" 

She put the mic back in its place, then did a quick and sudden riff on her guitar, the sound echoing in the stadium. The second she did, a small jet of purple flames shot up from each corner at the front of the stage. 

A moment later, another set of purple flames appeared behind those, then more behind those, quickly traveling closer to us. Glancing at Amity, I could see the subtle hint of surprise at the flame's colors, but she didn't say anything. 

The closer the fake flames got to us, the higher they rose, casting an array of purple shadows before finally the largest set of flames rose behind us, a light breeze barely rolling past us, enough to ruffle our hair, but nothing more.

It didn't take long for the crowd to catch onto what song we were going to play, and when they realized, they blew up in more whistles and cheers.

Right away, we started playing, our first song being Play with Fire. That song seemed to go by almost too quickly, but I didn't pay that any mind, rather I was too caught up jamming to the song while I made sure to hit the right notes. 

Then, after that, we moved on to Hex Girls, a few people surprised that we decided to play that song. However, they jammed to the song nonetheless, clearly having a good time. 

With this song, I couldn't help but focus more on Amity's vocals that what I was doing. This song was practically muscle memory, so I wasn't worried about messing up. 

I couldn't stop the smile that rose to my face as I remembered how I felt when I first heard this song. The memory of the concert filled my mind, making me feel warm. 

Since that song was a bit shorter than the last one, it wasn't long until our music was replaced with more cheering. Boscha let out a little laugh that the mic barely picked up before she moved closer. 

"Y'know, we can't just play this song without playing the other one." She said, her gaze turning towards Amity as she let out another small laugh. Then, without another word, we started playing Still Into You. 

The spotlights were a bunch of different colors, one cyan, one yellow, another white, just casting the stage in a swirl of different colors. We had just barely started on the song, ready to launch into the chorus. 

This song had puffs of smoke fly out into the air at certain cues in the song, disappearing before they would fall onto the crowd. Sometimes, they would change color, going from a grey to a pink, matching the tone of the song. 

I hit the cymbals with a loud crash, letting it echo as mine and Boscha's instruments went quiet, leaving Amity's to be the only one playing. 

"Cause after all this time, I'm still into you." 

Halfway through her line, I could hear the sudden sound of a loud crash and bang from behind me. It sounded fairly muffled, meaning the crowd wouldn't hear it over Amity's singing, but I heard it loud and clear from my position on the stage. 

My grip on my drumsticks tightened, my hands shaking again, the warm feeling from before suddenly dropping cold. "Oh great, isn't this perfect timing?" I thought to myself, trying to quickly hit the drums in the order they needed to go in. 

I could feel myself lagging behind, my body starting to freeze up. "Just make it to the end of the song, you can do that." I told myself, trying to keep my mind off of whatever happened back there. But the longer I continued, the more it plagued my mind. 

It didn't help this song was fast, and I was starting to fall behind enough for it to be noticeable. Boscha turned her head to look at me, still keeping up with the song. The concern in her eyes was clear, but she couldn't say a thing. 

My vision started to blur, and though I forced my stiff arms to move and hit the drums on time, I could feel that my entire body was shaking. "Don't mess up the show." Was the last clear thought that entered my mind before everything else went blank. I wanted to drag my knees to my chest, do something to close myself off, but I held back. 

I managed to hit the cymbals again, this time a little off, but the moment I did, the stage suddenly blew up in a large pink cloud of smoke, blocking my vision of the crowd. Someone carefully pulled me back before I could even try to struggle against them, pulling me backstage until I found myself on a seat. 

The song was still going on, the drums also being played as if I was still there, though now everything sounded distant. I frantically looked around, trying to clear my blurry vision to see what was going on before a blurry figure appeared in front of me, crouching down and trying to get my attention. 

It was Emira, the panic in her eyes clear even though I could barely see it. Her mouth was moving but I couldn't hear a word she was saying. She slowly reached up, keeping her hands in my field of vision until she gently put them on my shoulders. 

That made me suck in a breath, now noticing how tight my chest felt. "Luz?" I could now hear Emira's voice, making me jolt a little when she gave my shoulders a squeeze. When she saw my reaction, she quickly pulled away, still keeping her hands where I could see them. "Luz?" She asked again, her voice less muffled than before. 

I opened my mouth to say something, anything to let her know that I heard her, but rather, I just looked up, her golden eyes meeting mine. She glanced towards the stage for a moment, then back to me, trying to look calm. 

"Hey, can you hear me?" She asked, her hands taking a hold of drumsticks and gently prying them out of my hands before she took a hold of my shaking hands. I could feel her give my hands a soft squeeze, making me screw my eyes shut, hot tears stinging my eyes. "We should've moved those stupid barrels further out, I knew one of us would run into them." I barely heard her say, the panic rising slightly in her voice. 

Trying to take in a deep breath, I managed to get in a little bit of air before letting it out a broken wheeze. Worry rose on Emira's face, but she didn't say anything, rather, she gave my hands another squeeze as I tried to take another deep breath, this one lasting a little longer than the last.

By now, the muddled sounds of the band were clearing up, and I could tell they were starting to wrap up the song. Other sounds were starting to become clear now as well. 

Finally, the final note for the song was played, and the crowd blew up in more whistles and cheers. Boscha's voice picked up after that, saying something about taking a quick intermission and something else I didn't bother to understand before the curtains closed. 

Everyone else rushed backstage, All of them looking concerned. "Luz!" Amity's voice made me perk up, Emira almost instantly pulling away when she heard her sister's voice. Amity knelt down next to me, gently taking my hands in her own and rubbing circles onto my knuckles. 

Her voice was soft, mumbling words to me that went in one ear and out the other. Everyone else took a few steps back, giving the two of us space. I stared at them for a moment, noticing the guilty look on Emira's face as she quickly rattled something off to Skara and Boscha. 

I opened my mouth to speak, noticing how dry my throat was. "It's fine." I finally managed to say, giving Amity's hand a weak squeeze. "It's fine." My voice repeated, almost like I was trying to convince myself that it was. 

Looking over at the witch, I watched as she let go of one of my hands and quickly started drawing out little spells, tiny balls of light floating up from her circles and into the air around us. My breathing was still quick, but the sight of the balls of light eased the feeling that filled my chest. 

"You said these help..." I heard Amity say, my eyes meeting her own. Worry was clearly etched all over her face, her eyes scanning mine for a moment before her expression softened. "Try to take a deep breath okay? Follow me." Her voice stayed at a soft tone, making me slowly nod my head. 

She took in a slow, deep breath, and I tried to copy her actions, only getting about halfway. We both continued copying each other for a few minutes, and with each breath I could feel myself slowly but surely starting to calm down. 

"Amity..." I finally managed to say in a steady tone after awhile, the ghost of a smile appearing on the witch's lips at the mention of her name. Looking up at her, I could still see the worry that was there. 

"How are you feeling now?" She asked me, giving my hands a gentle squeeze, bringing a hand up to my face and wiping away a tear I had no idea was there. I looked over towards the other band members, all of them still giving us space. 

"Calmer." I mumbled, turning my gaze back to the witch in front of me. I stared for a minute, feeling a sudden pang of guilt strike me. "Sorry, freezing up like that-" 

The Blight gave my hands a squeeze again, cutting me off. "Don't even think about apologizing." She said, her tone firm. "I promise you, it's fine." 

"Guys?" Skara slowly approached us, her voice staying at a soft level. We both looked over at her, watching as she motioned towards the stage. "You've gotta go back on here in a few minutes." 

Amity gave her a nod, then turned back to me. "Take all the time you need to okay? I'm sorry I can't stay back here with you." I blinked a few times, watching as she stood up. Then, I shook my head, shakily bringing myself to my feet. 

"Wait!" Amity froze, turning back towards me, her eyes widening a bit when she saw me on my feet. "I'm going out too, I'm finishing the show." I barely managed to say, even though I knew I didn't want everyone to see me. 

"Luz, you can stay back if you need to." Amity's voice was firm again, but the concern was clear. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. You can rest back here and let Edric take your spot." 

"But I want to." I couldn't tell if it was a lie or not. "The show's gotta go on." I shook my head a few times, trying to pump myself up enough to go back out there. "Besides, I'm fine!" I tried to put on a peppy tone, but I could hear it fall flat. 

"Luz." Amity's voice dropped, making me freeze up. "I'm serious. Don't do this if you don't feel up to it." She took a hold of my hands again, giving me another squeeze. I stared at her for a moment, running her words through my head for a moment. 

After a minute, I shook my head again. "I can do it. I promise you Ammy, I can." I was being stubborn, I knew that, but I was hoping that with me being stubborn, Amity would drop it. 

She stared at me for a few moments, her eyes steely before they softened just a bit. "Are you sure?" The witch finally asked, making me nod my head. 

"I mean, my voice may be shaky, but it's not like I'm the one singing." I tried to joke, my tone once again falling flat. Though, I could still see the witch hesitating, clearly arguing with herself in her own head. 

Finally, after a few more long moments of silence, she reached up and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, her eyes still full of concern as she slowly let go of my hands. "You push yourself a lot y'know..." She mumbled, a dry laugh coming up from my throat. 

"So do you. After all, there was the last show." I pointed out, watching as the witch stiffened for a moment before heading towards the stage. She motioned for Boscha to follow, and the bassist quickly did. 

I quickly grabbed my drumsticks again and followed after the two, passing by the twins, one of them shooting me an apologetic look, the other giving me a look of concern as he rolled his drumsticks in his hands. 

Getting into my seat, I looked over at my other two band mates on the stage again, who both looked over at me. They both wore a look, saying I could still back out now. When I gave them a firm nod, they both turned forwards, the curtains opening and the spotlights flicking on once again. 

The spotlight seemed a little brighter now, a little warmer than it was before. However, I didn't pay it any mind and twirled my sticks in my hands, trying to look natural. 

Amity grabbed onto the mic stand, her eyes still lingering in my direction for a moment before she turned to the crowd. "Welcome back folks!" She called into the crowd, making them roar with noise. "Are we ready to continue the show." 

It wasn't hard to tell that the fans wanted to keep going, which, oddly enough, gave me a bit of motivation. Amity put the mic stand back in its place, then turning to the two of us, she gave us a subtle nod. 

I raised my drumsticks in the air, putting on a smirk to mask the feelings from before as I waited for the first note to be struck. After all, the show's got to go on, no matter what.


	35. The finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, here it is, the end. To everyone who's stuck around this long to see this book to the end, I hope you've enjoyed the time you've spent on this lmao
> 
> Anyways, enough of that, enjoy the last chapter :>

Luz POV:

Two years. 

Two long years since I've returned to the Boiling Isles, since I've joined The Abominations. Two years of traveling between worlds, band practice and all the rest of the chaos that comes from the Isles. Two years since I confessed to Amity. 

And now, I sat up on stage with a bright red spotlight blurring my vision of the crowd, my drumsticks held up in the air, my shoulders heaving, a giant smile on my face. Cheers were ringing in my ears, replacing the last few notes of the song. 

I glanced over at the others, seeing the smirks plastered on their faces as they kept a tight grip on their instruments. After a moment of hesitation, Amity brought one hand up to her mic, carefully taking it off the stand and pulling it closer to her face. 

She let out a bit of a laugh, quickly making the crowd quiet down. "Alright folks, we'll be back after the intermission!" The crowd died down to a sea of loud murmurs, which became slightly muffled as the curtains closed. 

Letting out a sigh, I stood up from my drums and stretched my arms over my head, shoving my drumsticks in my pocket and slowly moving backstage. "Congrats! You guys have made it to the halfway point!" Edric piped up as he passed me off a water. 

"You act like we've never done a show before." Boscha said as she took a water from him, rubbing her eyes slightly. Edric laughed, giving her a soft shove, which turned into the two of them pushing one another while laughing. 

Amity rolled her eyes, taking the last water from her sister before moving over by me. Emira motioned for Skara to do something with the sound board before she walked over to the two of us, rolling up her sleeves. "You guys can still see okay right? The effect didn't mess with your eyesight or anything?" 

"Still can see crystal clear!" I told her before taking a sip of water, Amity nodding her head. The Blight let out a sigh of relief, looking over towards her brother and the bassist. 

"So I'm gonna guess that goes the same for Boscha." She placed a hand on her hip, then let out a laugh. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised that the glowing eyes effect worked that well for the song." 

The youngest Blight shrugged, taking another sip of her water. "They worked so well because the lights were dim to match the song, made it easier to see that our eyes were glowing." 

"Dim and red, the Devil Town theme." Emira said with a smirk, her eyes following Edric and Boscha as they walked over. Boscha stood off to Amity's right while Edric threw an arm around Amity and I, pulling us close. 

"Remind me." He said, looking between the two of us. "We're playing a bunch of our new songs, all except for your little theme song?" He asked, flicking one of Amity's ears and making her scowl. 

"It's not my theme song..." She grumbled, taking another sip of her water.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that." Edric ruffled Amity's hair, making her smack his arm away. "No but seriously, we aren't playing Little Miss Perfect this show? Last I checked, you said at all the practices except the last one that we were gonna play it with the rest of the new songs." 

"We were, but we're pushing it back a bit." I nodded my head to what Amity was saying, taking a long sip of my water. "We're gonna play it at the next show instead. That way, we can wrap up the composition for Ordinary and release them side by side." 

"I thought you said the composition was done?" Boscha asked, raising an eyebrow. I hummed a little, catching the bassist's attention. 

"Technically it is." I said, bringing a hand up to my beanie and fixing it. "But it's leaning more towards an acoustic type of guitar. We've gotta tweak it to be a bit less like that." Boscha softly nodded her head, staring down at her drink. 

"So that's why we're releasing Bad Romance early." Boscha said before chuckling, softly shaking her head. "Y'know, you could've just said that instead of calling it a quick last minute change. That makes a whole lot more sense." 

"Five more minutes guys!" Skara called out to the five of us, catching our attention. Boscha nodded her head, finishing off the last of her drink before passing the bottle off to Edric. Amity and I did the same, and once they had the bottles, Edric and Emira scattered off to the sides of the stage to get ready. 

Amity drew out a small spell, a small floating mirror appearing in front of her. Glancing at her reflection, she let out a little content hum. "Honestly I'm more surprised that our makeup is staying as well as it is." 

Bringing a finger up to my face, I gently dragged a finger against my cheek before looking at it, finding nothing on it. "Remind me why you wanted to do this makeup?" All three of us had a fake blush painted on our cheeks and our noses, making us look like we were standing in the cold for awhile. Amity glanced up at me, eyeing my face to make sure I didn't mess up my makeup before shrugging. 

"Just figured we could do something special, and besides, it matches a lot of the songs, Arms Tonite, Snow, Devil Town..." She trailed off as she took her hair out of its usual ponytail and ran a hand through it before sighing. "I really need to dye it again." She mumbled, motioning to the brown in her hair, which was starting to show a lot more than before. 

I leaned over, barely catching my reflection in her mirror before she turned it to give me a clear view of my face. "You should dye part of it purple." I said, making her eyebrows bunch together before she looked over at me with a confused look. 

"Purple?" Her voice held a bit of a laugh, making me smile. 

"I'm not saying dye your whole head purple. Like, maybe just a stripe or two. It'd match the band's colors." She rolled her eyes turning her gaze back to the mirror so that she could pull her hair back up into it's half ponytail. "Seriously Ammy, you could pull it off." 

"You think so?" She tied her hair off before pulling at it a little, squinting at her reflection a little. I nodded my head, making her smile. 

"One hundred percent sure!" I turned my attention back to my own reflection, I ran my fingers through the bottom of my hair, which was a bit longer than a pixie cut. "Speaking of things that we could pull off, you think I'd look good with a mullet?" 

"Will you two stop flirting and hurry up?" Boscha called from the stage. Amity looked over towards the bassist, rolling her eyes before making the mirror disappear. 

"Does it look like we're flirting Boscha?" She yelled back, making the three eyed witch shrug. 

"I dunno. It's hard to tell." The pink haired witch motioned to the makeup on her face before she turned her gaze down to her bass.

Amity rolled her eyes again, then gave me a soft nudge forward, moving towards where she needed to be on the stage. "Your voice ready for the next song?" She asked me with a smirk, making me chuckle. 

"Of course it is!" I pulled my drum sticks out of my pocket and twirled them in my hand. "After all, all that practice wasn't for nothing!" I moved behind my drums, excitedly bouncing my free leg up and down while I waited, my eyes following Amity as she moved back up to the mic. 

Her grip shifted on her guitar, then with the wave of her hand, she signaled her siblings to pull back the curtains before grabbing her mic. The curtains moved back, revealing the crowd, who's voices got louder when they saw that we were back on stage. 

"Who's ready for the show to continue?" Amity asked the crowd, making them all explode into a new fit of noise. She smiled, not saying anything else as she put the mic back in place before taking half a step back. 

Then, looking over at the two of us, she gave us a small nod, then looked back into the crowd. We all paused for a moment, then Boscha started her bass, launching into Bad Romance. She went on her own for a moment, then Amity and I kicked in and the crowd went wild.

This song was a little different than the rest, because instead of Amity or Boscha hitting the high note, I was. Amity wanted to test it, see how the crowd would react since they were so used to only the two of them singing. 

Safe to say, the crowd thought it was a pleasant surprise. 

Then, once we wrapped up that song, we moved onto Bad Idea, the spotlights changing from a pale red light to white color whenever we would sing the chorus, and after that we played Snow, where the twins used their magic to have a fake snow float down onto the crowd, decorating them in a thin layer of white that evaporated away when the song was over.

And then, we finished off the night by playing Misery Business, the lights flickering and changing with certain notes, and grey smoke rising up on the stage about halfway through the song, obscuring the crowds vision of us and only allowing them to hear our voices, but once the song picked back up again, the smoke quickly starting to swirl before rising above our heads and disappearing. 

The fans went wild once the song was over, screaming and cheering so loud I was worried they were going to lose their voices the longer they continued. Boscha took a hold of her mic, pulling it closer to her. 

"Now that's how you wrap up a show!" She said into the mic, a little louder than her usual tone, probably so that she was heard over the crowd. "Thank you all for coming out tonight!" 

I gave an enthusiastic wave to the crowd, who continued let out claps, cheers and whistles long after the curtains closed. Sitting behind my drums for a little longer, I could feel my free leg bouncing up and down, a giant smile plastered on my face. 

Boscha let out a loud sigh, slumping down a little before spinning around on her heel, facing Amity and I. Then, she motioned towards backstage before she slowly started walking in that direction, Amity following after her. 

I shot up from my seat, my hands tightly gripping onto my drumsticks before I pumped my fists in the air and let out a cheer. "And that's another successful show!" I threw an arm around Amity's shoulders as she passed me, startling the witch and making her fumble with her guitar, her grip tightening around the neck. 

The two of us went backstage, and I let go of Amity so that she could go put her guitar in its case. Glancing around, I found Boscha and Skara by the sound board, the two of them talking about something that I couldn't hear, and neither of the twins in sight. 

Amity came back shortly after carrying her guitar case, looking around before furrowing her eyebrows. "Where's my siblings?" She asked me, making me shrug. 

"Right here Mittens!" Edric called out from above, making Amity and I jump in surprise. Looking up, we found the two of them floating in the air with a smug look on their faces before they slowly started coming down. "Don't worry, we didn't go far." 

"What were you doing?" She asked them, only making them shrug. 

"We've been up there since Snow, y'know, doing special effects." Emira said, giving her younger sister an innocent smile. Amity looked between the two of them for a moment before squinting her eyes. 

"I know for a fact you two did something else, so what did you two do?" Her ears went down a bit as she placed her free hand on her hip, making Edric place a hand on his chest, his face scrunching up in offense. 

"The fact you don't believe us hurts Mittens, it really does." He did a fake sniffle, making Emira chuckle. Then, he ruffled his younger sister's hair, quickly darting off towards the stage to pack stuff up. "But if we did do something, you have no proof!" 

Emira followed after him, also ruffling Amity's hair before she left, making the witch let out a low growl. "One of these days..." She grumbled, muttering the rest of her under her breath as she ran her hands through her hair to fix it. 

Looking up at where the twins were floating, I squinted my eyes before shrugging. "Well, it doesn't look like they did anything." Amity looked up as well, letting out a sigh before walking over in Boscha and Skara's direction. 

Looking back towards her siblings for a moment, I decided to follow after her to see what the others were doing. "I mean, we've got about forever until the next show." I could hear Boscha say, Skara pausing in winding up her wire to turn and look at the three eyed witch.

"Honestly it probably won't feel like that long, everything else has moved by pretty fast." The silver haired witch said, making the other witch shrug. Moving by Amity's side, I shoved my drumsticks in my pocket and took a hold of her free hand, intertwining our fingers. 

"Hey guys!" I chirped, making both of them look up at the two of us, a smile crossing both of their faces. "What're you two talking about?" I asked, my eyes following Skara as she wound up more of a cord. 

"Just talking about how we get some time to relax, seeing if we have plans or anything." The pink haired witch said with a shrug. 

"Ooo, we're talking about plans?" Edric said as he passed by us, different pieces of the drum set in his hands. "If that's the case, then me and Em plan to go camping for the weekend. Celebrating how well we've done this year." 

"You two are going up by yourselves?" Skara tilted her head, but Edric shook his head, shifting his grip on the things in his hands. 

"Nah, we're going up with Viney, Jerbo and Barcus." Emira paused before she passed her brother, nodding her head to what he was saying. "It's gonna be great!" 

"Just please be careful while you guys are there, and if you're gonna bring apple blood, don't go jump in some river." Amity said, making both of them laugh. 

"We won't Mittens!" They both said before walking off, making Amity sigh. 

There was a brief pause, then Boscha snorted before turning to the main singer. "I'll bet you money that your brother jumps in a river." 

"I already know he's going to." She said, softly shaking her head while the rest of us chuckled. Once the laughter died down, I spun on my heel, letting go of Amity's hand and moving over to grab a speaker to take to the cart. 

Amity, Boscha and Skara continued to talk for a moment, the green haired witch asking if either of them had plans. "Well, I might be going up to Willow's cabin to spend some time with her." I heard the pink haired witch say, watching out of the corner of my eye as she reached up to rub her undercut. "And maybe fix this." 

"And I'm just planning on hanging out with Bo tomorrow!" Skara said happily, and even though it wasn't the brightest backstage, I could see a faint blush rising to the sound director's cheeks. 

"Yeah, you have fun with your girlfriend." I heard Boscha say as I walked away, weaving past the twins as they came back to grab more stuff. Both of them went over to the group, giving them a nudge and telling them to help pack up, calling them a bunch of slowpokes. 

By the time we finished packing up our equipment it was almost midnight. Most of the fans had left at that point, but some stuck around, flocking us when we were getting ready to leave. 

They were all nice, even despite the fact that the twins started messing with some of them. Once we got done with taking photos and giving them autographs, we quickly made our way into cart, the twins deciding to join the rest of us in the back rather than in their usual seats. 

I sat next to Amity, resting an arm over her shoulders, making her lean on me. Edric sat off to Amity's right, resting his arms at the top of the seat, Boscha, Skara and Emira sat opposite of Amity and I. 

The ride home was full of chatter, Edric and Emira both shooting small illusions at one another, sometimes sending one in Amity's direction to bug her. Skara was constantly nudging Boscha to show her something on her scroll, both of them laughing at the twins actions, ducking when one of their spells would come too close.

Once we made it back to the studio, Edric shot one last small illusion towards Amity, making her jolt up before rubbing her eyes, frustrated grumbles escaping her lips. "C'mon Mittens, we're back at the studio." 

"Did you have to do that?" She asked him, her voice filled with irritation. He stood up, shrugging his shoulders with a smirk before leaving the cart, the rest of us following after him. 

We unpacked our equipment and brought it into the studio, dropping them off. Most of the talking was done by the twins, either joking around with the rest of us or talking about their plans with the troublemakers. 

The six of us were quick to wrap up putting everything away, all of us washing our makeup off at the studio, wanting to get home as soon as possible since it was late. Amity locked up the studio's front door, and all of us were off, Edric and I summoning light spells to light the way as we walked. 

All of us talked about the show, talking about things we saw in the crowd or something that the fans said to us when they met up with us outside. Soon enough, Skara and Boscha had to go their own way, leaving me with the Blight siblings. 

"Don't get eaten while you're gone Boscha!" Emira called out to the three eyed witch as she started to walk away. 

"Yeah! But if you do, we'll find someone good to replace you!" Edric chimed in, making the witch roll her eyes. 

They both bid us goodbye, Boscha giving us a salute while Skara gave us an enthusiastic wave. I waved back at the other two before leaning over and giving Amity a soft nudge. 

"Hey Ammy, can I crash at your place tonight?" I asked her, but before she could give me an answer, the twins pulled her back, making her yelp. 

"Of course you can!" Edric chirped, giving his younger sister a soft nudge. "After all, wouldn't want poor Mittens to be home all alone since we're leaving." 

Amity shoved him away, shooting him a glare before her expression softened, looking over at me. "Yes, you can." I smiled, seeing a pale pink rise on the witch's cheeks.

"Just don't do anything we'd do and don't burn the place down while we're gone, though I doubt you two will." Emira said, leaning on Amity's shoulder, making the younger witch also shove her away, which only made Emira laugh. 

"Y'know, the longer you two keep this up, the more I'm hoping you jump in a river and get hexed while you two are away." She hissed, making the twins look at one another before chuckling, pulling their sister in a hug. 

"Oh we know you don't mean that! You love us!" Edric said in a teasing tone, sticking out his tongue. 

"You're lucky I still do." Amity said in a cold tone, getting both of her siblings to let go of her. Then, she moved by my side, grabbing onto my hand and walking forward, not bothering to look and see if her siblings were following us. 

I glanced back at them for a moment, seeing both of them laughing before following after us, the two of them whispering to one another. 

Soon enough, we made it to Amity's house, and the moment we stepped in the door, the twins pushed past us and went up to their rooms to pack. Amity stared at the stairs for a moment, then turned to me. "You wanna get something to eat?" 

I nodded my head and the two of us headed off to the kitchen, the youngest Blight reaching up and taking the beanie off of my head, tossing it onto the kitchen table. Then, she ran a hand through my hair, making the two of us stop walking for a moment. 

There was a hazy look in her eyes as she continued to run her fingers through my hair, which I let her do for a few moments before chuckling. "Thought we were getting some food?" She blinked a few times, then smiled before giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. 

"Sorry, got distracted." I froze in place for a moment, feeling the warmth rise up to my cheeks before taking a seat in the kitchen. "Is Eda going to mind that you stay here for the night?" 

"Nope!" I leaned back in the chair a little, making sure not to tip it past the point of no return. "Besides, she's not even at home right now, right now she's at the human realm." 

"Why is she there?" Amity asked, going into the pantry and coming back out with some bread. 

I ran a hand through my hair, watching as Amity pulled out four slices of bread. "She told me that she's going to see someone." Was all I said, making the witch raise an eyebrow, but instead of saying anything she just nodded her head. 

"You do have everything, right?" I heard from the top of the stairs, taking my attention away from Amity. "Seriously, double check cause I'm not letting you borrow my stuff." 

"Well jeez, love you too sis." Edric said, quickly darting down the steps with a duffel bag hanging on his shoulder. "And yes I have everything! Actually... hold on-" 

He speed walked into the kitchen, reaching into the cooler and sifting around for a moment before pulling out a bottle of apple blood. His eyes lit up and he quickly unzipped his bag before putting the bottle inside. "Okay! Now I have everything!" 

Amity eyed his bag, then her brother for a moment before turning back to the food. "Don't die while you two are out there." She said, making Edric scoff and roll his eyes. 

"Wow, and to believe that just ten minutes ago you were hoping that Em and I get killed." He said, and I could see Amity's ears twitch. 

"I said that I hoped you get cursed, not killed." Amity specified, turning to look at her brother. "Seriously, don't get hurt while you two are there." 

"Oh don't worry so much Mittens, we do have common sense you know?" Emira walked into the room, a duffel bag also on her shoulder. "Besides, if we do somehow get hurt, Viney can heal us." I softly nodded my head to what she said, making Amity sigh. 

"Yeah, what Em said." Edric took a few steps backwards before turning around and heading towards the door before pausing. "Now, we'll be heading out!"

"This late?" I asked them, leaning back in my chair again so that I could see them better. The twins both nodded their heads, opening the door and slowly started to walk out. "Wouldn't you guys want to wait till morning?" 

"It's not like we're going to the spot tonight." Emira said with a wave of her hand, Edric nodding his head in agreement. "We're going to Viney's house for the night, then we're leaving in the morning." 

"Oh, alright then. Bye guys!" I gave them a small wave, both of them giving me a wave back in response. 

"See you two later!" They said before closing the door behind them, leaving Amity and I alone. Shortly after, Amity walked over with two plates in hand, a sandwich on each one. 

"You fine with this?" She asked me, gesturing towards the plate. I gave her a smile and a nod, carefully taking the plate from her hand and setting it down on the table before grabbing the sandwich and taking a bite. 

We both ate in a nice silence, which was interrupted with an occasional giggle whenever I tried to nudge Amity under the table with my foot. Once we were finished with our food, I took the plates and brought them over to the sink, quickly washing them. 

Amity stayed over at the table and I could hear her sigh. Looking over in her direction, I found her with the song book open, a pencil in her hand that she tapped against the corner of a page. 

"What'cha doing there Ammy?" I asked, running one of the plates under the water. 

"Working on compositions." She mumbled, tiredness starting to seep into her voice. I shut off the water, reaching over for a towel to dry off the dishes. 

"The composition for Ordinary?" I asked, seeing her nod her head. 

"That one and the other new song." She said, motioning to one of the pages. "Trying to finish this one while I fix the other one." The green haired witch mumbled, rubbing her eyes. 

I put away the plates and slowly walked over, peering over her shoulder for a few seconds before placing a hand on her shoulder, making her tense up. "You really should get some sleep." I told her, hearing her sigh in response. 

"Sleep can wait until after I finish this." Amity said, tapping her pencil against the page. I let out a few tsks, taking the pencil from Amity's hand. "Hey!" 

"Nope, it's late and you need the rest. These can wait till morning." I pointed to the song book with the pencil, which Amity tried to grab before I pulled it away, making her groan. "After all, work is done better with a full night's sleep!" 

I could hear the green haired witch grumble something under her breath that I couldn't understand, making me chuckle before bending down and giving her a quick kiss on the temple. Then, I gently tossed the pencil back onto the table before scooping the witch up in my arms, making her squeak. 

"What are you doing?" She asked me, her voice slightly higher than usual, her ears going down. I smiled at her, seeing the blush rise in her cheeks. 

"Taking you to bed." I said, quickly heading off towards the stairs. Taking the two of us upstairs, I headed over to Amity's room, pushing the door open with my foot. Moving over to her bed, I gently put her down before lightly booping her nose. "Alright, now you get in something comfortable and relax, cause I'm gonna go take a quick shower. The show left me all sweaty and gross." I laughed, hearing Amity groan. 

"You couldn't have showered, then dragged me out of my work?" She asked me, a hint of annoyance leaking into her tired voice. I shook my head in response. 

"Nope! Now get comfortable, I'll be back in a jiffy!" I gave the witch a wink and quickly headed towards the door, pausing in my tracks before turning back around. "First, I need to borrow some clothes." 

Amity motioned towards one of her drawers. "There's a bunch of your clothes in there." She told me, making a smirk rise to my face. 

Heading over towards the drawer, I pulled it open and grabbed one of the shirts off of the top. "Wow Ammy, you've got a drawer dedicated to all the clothes you've stolen from me." I looked back over at her, watching her roll her eyes. 

"Most of them you've left behind after you've spent the night." She told me, folding her arms over her chest. Grabbing a pair of black shorts from the drawer, I shrugged my shoulders. 

"Hey well, you haven't given them back to me yet so, technically it means you stole them." I told her, wiggling my eyebrows before heading to the door. "Anyways, be back in a few!" 

Heading off towards the bathroom, I quickly got in the shower, using the shampoo that almost smelt like coconut before getting out. Putting on my clothes, I ruffled my hair with to dry it off a bit before looking at myself in the mirror, finding a creeper staring back at me on my shirt, a dopey smile on my face. 

Hanging the towel back up, I left the bathroom and went back into Amity's room, finding the door closed. Giving the door a few knocks, I placed a hand on the handle. "Ammy? Can I come in?" 

I waited a few moments, getting no response. Knocking again, this time louder, I could hear shuffling come from the other side. "Come in!" Amity's muffled voice called out before I pushed open the door. 

Amity was still on her bed, this time in a baggy dark blue shirt and some shorts, her hair down. She eyed me up and down for a moment, a snort coming from her. 

Giving her a dopey smile, I bounded over towards her bed, flopping down towards the foot of the bed. "Guess who's little spoon tonight?" I asked playfully, watching as Amity tensed up a bit before she gave me a soft glare. 

"You just got out of the shower." She said, and I put on a pout. 

"But you were little spoon last time!" I whined, making the youngest Blight roll her eyes. She paused for a moment, her eyes widening a bit before she looked back at me again. "What?" 

"Is that the nice shampoo?" She asked me, making me vigorously nod my head. Amity then sighed, flopping down on the bed before motioning me over. "Fine, come here." 

I quickly scooted up by her, wrapping my arms around her waist and resting my head under her chin. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist." I said with a smile, nuzzling into the witches neck. 

"Whatever." I could hear Amity mumble as she wrapped her arms around me, resting her chin on top of my head, taking a deep breath before melting into the bed. "Night Luz." 

"Night Ammy." I chirped, relaxing in her embrace. Closing my eyes, I felt myself slowly start to drift off until the darkness took over. 

Not too long later, I woke up again, noticing that my hair still felt kind of damp, meaning that I hadn't been asleep that long. Opening my eyes, I found that the room was still dark, but I couldn't feel Amity's arms around me anymore. 

Blinking a few times, I tried to let my eyes adjust to the darkness before I noticed Amity was sitting up in bed. "Amity?" I asked groggily, feeling the witch jump. Sitting up, I reached over to Amity's desk and fumbled around for a moment, eventually finding a pencil and a notebook. 

Bringing the items over, I drew out a few light spells, squinting when they formed and rose into the air. "What's the matter?" I asked her, seeing her slowly shake her head as she stared straight ahead. 

"Nothing, just thinking about the next show." She mumbled, suddenly leaning on my shoulder. I didn't move, letting her lay her head on me. 

"Why?" I asked, feeling her shrug. 

"Just thinking about the songs that we're gonna perform." Amity told me, and I could feel her lean against me a little more. "It's making it hard to sleep." She said with a dry chuckle. 

"Want to get something to ease your mind then? Tea? Maybe some cherry pie? I could go steal a slice really quick if you want." I told her, but I could feel Amity shake her head. 

"No, it's fine." She said, suddenly getting off my shoulder and running her hands through her hair, making her ears twitch. 

We both went quiet for a moment, and very slowly, I placed my hand against her's. She didn't hesitate and laced her fingers with mine, giving my hand a soft squeeze. "So what's making you think of the songs now?" I asked, raising an eyebrow even though I didn't know if she could see it or not. "I mean, we've still got a bit before the next show, you don't have to worry about that right now." 

Amity stayed quiet for a few moments, then sighed. "I've just been debating songs, well, more like one song." She paused for a couple of moments, and I stayed silent, hoping that she would continue. Her hand squeezed mine again, her ears barely moving down. "I've been debating on playing Loverman at the next show..." She finally said, her voice softer than before. 

I could feel my eyes widen a bit, staring at Amity while she looked down at our hands. I hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke up. "Are you debating on doing it because you want to do it, or because the band hasn't played it since it first came out?" 

The witch stayed quiet for a moment, then shrugged. "I mean, I feel like we should play it again cause of how long it's been, but at the same time, I don't know if I want to." Amity squeezed my hand again, then let out a sigh. "Y'know what, we can just worry about this in the morning. It's dumb to worry about now anyways." 

"Well, we can talk about it now if you want." I suggested, but Amity just shook her head. 

"Honestly, I just want to sleep." She said, her eyes meeting mine. "Can we just, I don't know, talk about something else? It's distract me long enough to fall asleep." 

I hesitated, then gave the witch a smile. "Sure, what do you want to talk about?" I asked her, gently pulling her closer to me before making both of us lie down, both of us staring at one another as we laid on our sides. 

"Doesn't matter to me." She told me, suppressing a yawn that rose up from her throat. Amity moved closer to me, nuzzling her head in my neck and tangling her legs with mine. 

Her actions made me freeze up for a moment, but then I was quick to wrap my arms around her. She wrapped her arms around me as well, making sure to avoid my side. "Well... what if we talk about our names?" 

"What about them?" She asked me, her breath hitting my neck and making me shiver. Once the shiver went away, I shrugged my shoulders. 

"Dunno, was just thinking of some things." I said, ending my sentence with a chuckle. "Okay, so hear me out here, it's really random but it popped into my head, what if my name was Luz Blight?" The was a few moments of silence, then I could hear Amity laugh. 

"That sounds weird." She told me, still chuckling, making me groan. 

"I know it does, I was just hoping I could play that off." I mumbled, lightly running a hand up and down her back. "Alright, if that one sounds weird, then what about Amity Noceda?" I suggested, feeling the warmth of Amity's face radiating onto my skin. 

"That still sounds weird." She said, her voice a bit higher than before, but it was laced with a tone that made me realize something.

I hummed for a moment, Amity pulling away from me for a moment to look at my face, seeing my smirk. "I dunno, based on your tone of voice it sounds like you like it." I said, watching as her golden eyes widened a bit, her ears slowly starting to flap. 

"What are you talking about?!" She squeaked out, trying to shove me away, which only made me laugh and pull her closer to me. 

"You like the idea of you having my last name!" I said, feeling the witch go practically stiff as a board in my arms. "The amazing singer Amity Blight wants to be called Amity Noceda!"

"No I don't!" Her voice was even higher now, making me laugh. "Look, let's just go to sleep, it's getting late." She quickly said, clearly trying to get me to stop. 

"Are you sure Mrs. Noceda?" I teased, wiggling my eyebrows even though she wasn't looking at me, a faint blush starting to rise to my cheeks. 

"Luz!" She dragged out my name, making me laugh. 

"Alright alright, I'll stop." I said when my laughter died down, the witch pulling away from me to look me in the eyes. I stared at her for a moment, then a soft smile found it's way to my face before I gave her a quick peck on the lips. 

"Thank you." She said, her face a shade of red as she nuzzled her head into my neck. I hummed in response, starting to slowly run a hand up and down her back. 

"Good night cariño." I said softly, bringing a hand up to her cheek before lightly scratching the spot by her ear, hearing the purr rise up from her throat. 

"Good night Luz." She mumbled back as I closed my eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep as I held the witch in my arms, a smile on my face the entire time.


End file.
